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Work & commute in Louisville · A commuter town

95% of Louisville’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Louisville for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Massena (40%), Potsdam (10%) and Canton (5%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Work in town
5%
55 of 1,168 working residents
Typical commute
14 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
21 min
Less than NY (33 min)
Work from home
9%
Less than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
214
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Louisville?

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

★ What stands out · Next door

40% of Louisville works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Massena (40%). Darker towns draw more of Louisville’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Massena19 min
Louisville21 min
Norfolk25 min
Waddington27 min
The commute map

40% of working residents work in Massena

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

Ogdensburg: 37 residents work here (3%)Syracuse: 17 residents work here (1%)Albany: 18 residents work here (2%)LouisvilleMadridLawrence: 12 residents work here (1%)StockholmWaddingtonPotsdam: 118 residents work here (10%)BrasherCanton: 55 residents work here (5%)Fort CovingtonMalone: 22 residents work here (2%)NorfolkMassena: 469 residents work here (40%)Akwesasne: 52 residents work here (4%)MassenaPotsdamCantonAkwesasneOgdensburgMaloneLouisville
1
Massena9.5 mi away
40%469
2
Potsdam16 mi away
10%118
3
Louisville (in town)right here
5%55
4
Canton25 mi away
5%55
5
Akwesasne17.4 mi away
4%52
6
Ogdensburg25.5 mi away
3%37
7
Malone37 mi away
2%22
8
Albany166.3 mi away
2%18
9
Syracuse140.7 mi away
1%17
10
Lawrence19.9 mi away
1%12
Everywhere elseother towns and states
27%313
The top trips

Where Louisville 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 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
161 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Louisville21 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
9%

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

About 1 in 10

How Louisville ranks on commute time →

The jobs

Louisville makes things: 47% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in LouisvilleJobs Louisville residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms47%14%
Trade, transport & utilities13%19%
Services: health, schools, offices41%67%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less18%14%
$1,251–$3,333 a month35%22%
Over $3,333 a month47%64%

Who does it

29 or younger21%20%
30 to 5451%56%
55 and older28%24%
−48%

Jobs based in Louisville, 2013 → 2023: 412 → 214. 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.

Day and night

Louisville quiets down on a workday

On a workday 1,113 residents head out to work, 55 work right here, and 159 people come in from elsewhere.

1,113live here, work elsewhere
55live and work here
159work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night3,000
Workday2,100
3,000live here− 1,100head out to work+ 160come in to work= 2,100on a workday

About 2,100 people are in Louisville on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.18jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.18 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 Louisville 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 miMassena: 40% · 9.5 miPotsdam: 10% · 16 miCanton: 5% · 25 miAkwesasne: 4% · 17.4 miOgdensburg: 3% · 25.5 miMalone: 2% · 37 miAlbany: 2% · 166.3 miSyracuse: 1% · 140.7 miLawrence: 1% · 19.9 miMassena 40%Potsdam 10%Canton 5%Akwesasne 4%Ogdensburg 3%Louisville
LouisvilleTop destinations (size = commuters)
42%Under 10 mi494 residents
27%10–24 mi311 residents
9%25–50 mi104 residents
22%Over 50 mi259 residents

About 22% 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.

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 Louisville

Louisville home →

Commuter talk

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

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

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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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