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Work & commute in Highland · A commuter town

94% of Highland’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Highland for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are New York (13%), Lloyd (11%) and Poughkeepsie (11%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Work in town
6%
182 of 2,866 working residents
Typical commute
14 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
28 min
Less than NY (33 min)
Work from home
18%
More than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
1,474
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Highland?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

13% of working residents work in New York

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

Poughkeepsie: 206 residents work here (7%)Kingston: 106 residents work here (4%)New York: 364 residents work here (13%)Hyde ParkWappinger: 90 residents work here (3%)Ulster: 53 residents work here (2%)Lloyd: 322 residents work here (11%)New Paltz: 147 residents work here (5%)PlattekillMarlborough: 51 residents work here (2%)Newburgh: 51 residents work here (2%)Poughkeepsie: 308 residents work here (11%)HighlandNew YorkLloydPoughkeepsiePoughkeepsieNew PaltzKingstonHighland
1
New York73.2 mi away
13%364
2
Lloyd1.7 mi away
11%322
3
Poughkeepsie4.7 mi away
11%308
4
Poughkeepsie3 mi away
7%206
5
New Paltz7.1 mi away
5%147
6
Kingston14.5 mi away
4%106
7
Wappinger10.1 mi away
3%90
8
Ulster17.3 mi away
2%53
9
Marlborough6.1 mi away
2%51
10
Newburgh12.4 mi away
2%51
Everywhere elseother towns and states
41%1,168
The top trips

Where Highland clocks in

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

Time on the road

About 28 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
215 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Highland28 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
18%

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

About 2 in 10
Day and night

Highland quiets down on a workday

On a workday 2,684 residents head out to work, 182 work right here, and 1,292 people come in from elsewhere.

2,684live here, work elsewhere
182live and work here
1,292work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night6,400
Workday5,000
6,400live here− 2,700head out to work+ 1,300come in to work= 5,000on a workday

About 5,000 people are in Highland on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.51jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.51 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.

How far

Half of Highland commutes less than 14 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 miNew York: 13% · 73.2 miLloyd: 11% · 1.7 miPoughkeepsie: 11% · 4.7 miPoughkeepsie: 7% · 3 miNew Paltz: 5% · 7.1 miKingston: 4% · 14.5 miWappinger: 3% · 10.1 miUlster: 2% · 17.3 miMarlborough: 2% · 6.1 miNewburgh: 2% · 12.4 miNew York 13%Lloyd 11%Poughkeepsie 11%Poughkeepsie 7%New Paltz 5%Highland
HighlandTop destinations (size = commuters)
44%Under 10 mi1,253 residents
21%10–24 mi588 residents
9%25–50 mi264 residents
26%Over 50 mi758 residents

About 26% 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 jobs

What the 1,474 jobs in Highland are

1,474 jobs are based in Highland. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Highland’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in HighlandJobs Highland residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms20%11%
Trade, transport & utilities14%18%
Services: health, schools, offices65%70%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less15%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month31%22%
Over $3,333 a month54%65%

Who does it

29 or younger24%21%
30 to 5447%51%
55 and older30%27%
−13%

Jobs based in Highland, 2013 → 2023: 1,692 → 1,474. 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.

Next door

22% of Highland works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Lloyd (11%). Darker towns draw more of Highland’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

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 Highland

Highland home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Highland, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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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.

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