New Boston ranks among the lowest-earning U.S. towns by household income
For jobs and income New Boston is better than 5% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (A−). Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. The poverty rate is 31.0%, next to 13.3% for Ohio as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from New Boston, in brief
New Boston and Portsmouth trade workers both ways
Portsmouth is the top workplace for New Boston residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in New Boston come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
New Boston is where the jobs are
New Boston has 1,255 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
New Boston makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in New Boston are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs New Boston residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 17%. The jobs ↓
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 801 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind New Boston’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds New Boston’s grade up (ahead of 37% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($22,932, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (9.7%) is left out: New Boston’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, New Boston could be anywhere from D− to D.
Where the people who work in New Boston live
Where New Boston clocks in
31% of workers
4% 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 workday shuffle in and out of New Boston
On a workday 753 residents head out to work, 48 work right here, and 1,207 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in New Boston on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Making and building: 39% of jobs based in New Boston
1,255 jobs are based in New Boston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Boston, 2013 → 2023: 1,441 → 1,255. 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 New Boston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from New Boston: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Boston workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 676 commuters (the 1% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
New Boston’s commute, mile by mile
About 29% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
In New Boston, walking beats the bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.7% across Ohio, on an EPA index of 7.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 683 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 26.8% of New Boston households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of New Boston’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 1,500 to 3,000, and where New Boston sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | New California OH | 1,672 | $162K | 0.0% | 1.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Jersey Township OH | 2,678 | $136K | 2.4% | 1.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Silver Lake OH | 2,504 | $140K | 2.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,196 | New Llano LA | 2,015 | $52K | 20.8% | 15.5% | 3% | D |
| 5,197 | Charlevoix MI | 2,325 | $48K | 24.8% | 7.1% | 29% | D |
| 5,198 | New Boston OH | 2,206 | $23K | 31.0% | 9.7% | 6% | D |
| 5,199 | Philippi WV | 2,846 | $46K | 29.5% | 8.1% | 21% | D |
| 5,200 | West Paris ME | 1,773 | $56K | 24.1% | 4.5% | 7% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,641 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 New Boston, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Next door is work for 31% of New Boston
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | New Boston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Boston | – | D | A− | 21 min | $22,932 |
| Portsmouth | 31% | D | A− | 21 min | $34,713 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Portsmouth. Darker towns draw more of New Boston’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 New Boston: questions
What is the median household income in New Boston?
$22,932 (±$5,026) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Boston?
31.0%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Boston?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Boston work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portsmouth (31%, 1 mi), Columbus (4%, 85 mi), Wheelersburg (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is New Boston walkable?
New Boston is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Boston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 27% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Boston, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Boston
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.