Work & commute · Highlands

Work & commute in Highlands, NY

Most working residents leave Highlands for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are New York (33%), Ramapo (3%) and Clarkstown (3%). Half commute less than 36 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

549 of 3,745 working residents

Typical commute

36 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

18%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,196 Highlands residents head out of town to work, 549 work right here, and 1,699 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Highlands.

3,196live here, work elsewhere

549live and work here

1,699work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Highlands goes to work

New York49 mi away

33%1,232

Highlands (in town)right here

15%549

Ramapo16.6 mi away

3%95

Clarkstown16.4 mi away

3%94

New Windsor9.1 mi away

2%59

Stony Point8.2 mi away

1%52

Greenburgh25 mi away

1%51

Hempstead54.9 mi away

1%47

Orangetown22.1 mi away

1%44

Cortlandt9.7 mi away

1%42

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%1,480

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

How far

How far Highlands commutes

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

23%

19%

42%

16%

23%Under 10 mi

19%10–24 mi

42%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Highlands is a commuter town

0.60jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.60 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Highlands are

2,248 jobs are based in Highlands. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Highlands’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Highlands

2,248 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)82%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Highlands residents hold

3,745 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month64%

+24%

Jobs based in Highlands, 2013 → 2023: 1,810 → 2,248. 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.