Work & commute · Big Flats

Work & commute in Big Flats, NY

Most working residents leave Big Flats for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Elmira (16%), Horseheads (15%) and Corning (12%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

333 of 3,131 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,798 Big Flats residents head out of town to work, 333 work right here, and 4,246 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Big Flats.

2,798live here, work elsewhere

333live and work here

4,246work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Big Flats goes to work

Elmira6.2 mi away

16%497

Horseheads7 mi away

15%468

Corning7.3 mi away

12%363

Big Flats (in town)right here

11%333

Erwin11.6 mi away

7%212

Corning5.2 mi away

5%166

Elmira7.5 mi away

2%58

Sayre, PA22.8 mi away

2%55

Rochester79.7 mi away

1%38

Ithaca29.8 mi away

1%36

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%905

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Big Flats commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

61%

14%

17%

61%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Big Flats is balanced between jobs and homes

1.46jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.46 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Big Flats are

4,579 jobs are based in Big Flats. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Big Flats’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Big Flats

4,579 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities37%

Services (health, schools, offices…)38%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Big Flats residents hold

3,131 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month66%

−23%

Jobs based in Big Flats, 2013 → 2023: 5,969 → 4,579. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.