Guest, Sign inJoin
Work & commute in East Ithaca · A job hub

Every workday, about 10,000 people come to East Ithaca for work

40% of East Ithaca’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Ithaca (47%), Ithaca (14%) and Lansing (4%). Half commute less than 2 miles.

Work in town
40%
437 of 1,088 working residents
Typical commute
2 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
21 min
Less than NY (33 min)
Work from home
26%
More than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
10,847
A job hub

What kind of work town is East Ithaca?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Day and night

East Ithaca’s population more than triples on a workday

On a workday 651 residents head out to work, 437 work right here, and 10,410 people come in from elsewhere.

651live here, work elsewhere
437live and work here
10,410work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,900
Workday12,000
1,900live here− 650head out to work+ 10,000come in to work= 12,000on a workday

About 12,000 people are in East Ithaca on a workday afternoon, 509% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
9.97jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

10.0 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.

Time on the road

About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
157 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

East Ithaca21 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
26%

of East Ithaca workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.

About 3 in 10
The jobs

Mostly services: health care, schools and offices

10,847 jobs are based in East Ithaca. Here is what they are, next to the jobs East Ithaca’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in East IthacaJobs East Ithaca residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%6%
Trade, transport & utilities1%10%
Services: health, schools, offices99%84%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less24%16%
$1,251–$3,333 a month16%20%
Over $3,333 a month60%64%

Who does it

29 or younger36%31%
30 to 5445%45%
55 and older19%24%
+76%

Jobs based in East Ithaca, 2013 → 2023: 6,146 → 10,847. 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.

How far

Half of East Ithaca commutes less than 2 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miIthaca: 47% · 4.2 miIthaca: 14% · 2.6 miLansing: 4% · 10.5 miNew York: 4% · 178.3 miDryden: 2% · 6.2 miSyracuse: 2% · 45.5 miCortland: 1% · 18.7 miAlbany: 1% · 136.4 miRochester: 1% · 78.1 miElmira: 1% · 29.1 miIthaca 47%Ithaca 14%Lansing 4%New York 4%Dryden 2%East Ithaca
East IthacaTop destinations (size = commuters)
69%Under 10 mi755 residents
3%10–24 mi36 residents
8%25–50 mi92 residents
19%Over 50 mi204 residents

About 19% 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.

The commute map

Where East Ithaca’s workers come from

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

CortlandIthaca: 2,832 workers live here (26%)ElmiraSyracuseAlbanyRochesterNew YorkCaroline: 218 workers live here (2%)Groton: 218 workers live here (2%)Lansing: 1,028 workers live here (9%)Candor: 144 workers live here (1%)Dryden: 863 workers live here (8%)Newfield: 177 workers live here (2%)Ulysses: 189 workers live here (2%)Danby: 193 workers live here (2%)Ithaca: 1,757 workers live here (16%)East IthacaSouth HillIthacaIthacaLansingDrydenCarolineGrotonEast Ithaca
1
Ithaca2.6 mi away
26%2,832
2
Ithaca4.2 mi away
16%1,757
3
Lansing10.5 mi away
9%1,028
4
Dryden6.2 mi away
8%863
5
Caroline7.8 mi away
2%218
6
Groton12.1 mi away
2%218
7
Danby6.5 mi away
2%193
8
Ulysses10.1 mi away
2%189
9
Newfield9.8 mi away
2%177
10
Candor15.7 mi away
1%144
Everywhere elseother towns and states
30%3,228
The top trips

Where East Ithaca clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Next door

14% of East Ithaca works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Ithaca (14%). Darker towns draw more of East Ithaca’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

South Hill18 min
Ithaca19 min
East Ithaca21 min
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of East Ithaca

East Ithaca home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from East Ithaca, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from East Ithaca worth it?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Ask neighbors

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.

Post to East Ithaca

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in