Work & commute · Lackawanna

Work & commute in Lackawanna, NY

Most working residents leave Lackawanna for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Buffalo (25%), Amherst (9%) and Cheektowaga (8%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

732 of 7,383 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,651 Lackawanna residents head out of town to work, 732 work right here, and 4,354 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lackawanna.

6,651live here, work elsewhere

732live and work here

4,354work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lackawanna goes to work

Buffalo5.3 mi away

25%1,860

Lackawanna (in town)right here

10%732

Amherst13.9 mi away

9%630

Cheektowaga7.8 mi away

8%563

Hamburg5.6 mi away

7%540

West Seneca4.3 mi away

5%387

Orchard Park6.5 mi away

5%385

Tonawanda11.6 mi away

3%207

Lancaster12 mi away

3%185

New York292.9 mi away

2%176

Everywhere elseother towns and states

23%1,718

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

How far

How far Lackawanna commutes

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

62%

22%

14%

62%Under 10 mi

22%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lackawanna is a commuter town

0.69jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lackawanna are

5,086 jobs are based in Lackawanna. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lackawanna’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lackawanna

5,086 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Lackawanna residents hold

7,383 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month56%

−42%

Jobs based in Lackawanna, 2013 → 2023: 8,697 → 5,086. 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.