Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Wilson earn less than those in 73% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 23.2%, next to 14.0% for New York as a whole. Wilson grades C− for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in seven work in Wilson itself; outside it, Wilson draws the most (16%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Wilson stands out on work
Wilson and Wilson trade workers both ways
Wilson is the top workplace for Wilson residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Wilson come from (37% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Wilson are quick
The average trip to work takes 27 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 553 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Wilson gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Wilson is better than 18% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Wilson’s grade up (ahead of 43% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (7.4%) is left out: Wilson’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Wilson could be anywhere from D to B−.
Commuting out of Wilson: the destinations
Where Wilson clocks in
16% of workers
12% of workers
10% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The trip to work from Wilson: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wilson workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 406 commuters (the 18% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many people are in Wilson by day
On a workday 486 residents head out to work, 67 work right here, and 410 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Jobs in Wilson: what the 477 are
477 jobs are based in Wilson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wilson, 2013 → 2023: 419 → 477. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wilson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Wilson
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Wilson
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wilson is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 9.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 497 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.9% of Wilson households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wilson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wilson is 3,071st of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 4 | Saddle Rock NY | 1,008 | $176K | 0.8% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,069 | Kremmling CO | 1,451 | $77K | 15.4% | 6.7% | 21% | C− |
| 3,070 | Parker City IN | 1,279 | $59K | 18.8% | 6.0% | 3% | C− |
| 3,071 | Wilson NY | 1,210 | $61K | 23.2% | 7.4% | 12% | C− |
| 3,072 | Lucama NC | 1,052 | $55K | 20.1% | 12.4% | 1% | C− |
| 3,073 | Florence Township MI | 1,142 | $63K | 23.9% | 3.3% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Wilson, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Wilson: questions
What is the median household income in Wilson?
$60,639 (±$10,462) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wilson?
23.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wilson?
27 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wilson work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilson (16%, 3 mi), Buffalo (12%, 29 mi), Amherst (10%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wilson walkable?
Wilson is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wilson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wilson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wilson
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.