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Work & commute in McLean · A commuter town

99% of McLean’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave McLean for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Ithaca (20%), Dryden (14%) and Ithaca (12%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Work in town
1%
1 of 167 working residents
Typical commute
12 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
12 min
Less than NY (33 min)
Work from home
0%
Less than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
96
A commuter town

What kind of work town is McLean?

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

★ What stands out · Time on the road

About 12 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
94 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.9 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

McLean12 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
0%

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

About 0 in 10
The commute map

20% of working residents work in Ithaca

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

Cortland: 4 residents work here (2%)Ithaca: 20 residents work here (12%)Syracuse: 2 residents work here (1%)New York: 6 residents work here (4%)Cortlandville: 10 residents work here (6%)Groton: 8 residents work here (5%)Lansing: 20 residents work here (12%)Dryden: 23 residents work here (14%)Homer: 3 residents work here (2%)LockeMoraviaVirgilIthaca: 33 residents work here (20%)McLeanIthacaDrydenIthacaLansingCortlandvilleGrotonMcLean
1
Ithaca15.7 mi away
20%33
2
Dryden6 mi away
14%23
3
Ithaca13 mi away
12%20
4
Lansing12.3 mi away
12%20
5
Cortlandville9.7 mi away
6%10
6
Groton4.2 mi away
5%8
7
New York178.2 mi away
4%6
8
Cortland6.8 mi away
2%4
9
Homer10 mi away
2%3
10
Syracuse34.9 mi away
1%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
23%38
The top trips

Where McLean clocks in

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

Next door

19% of McLean works in a bordering town

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

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

McLean12 min
Dryden19 min
Groton21 min
Day and night

McLean quiets down on a workday

On a workday 166 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 95 people come in from elsewhere.

166live here, work elsewhere
1live and work here
95work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night410
Workday340
410live here− 170head out to work+ 95come in to work= 340on a workday

About 340 people are in McLean on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.57jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.57 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 McLean commutes less than 12 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: 20% · 15.7 miDryden: 14% · 6 miIthaca: 12% · 13 miLansing: 12% · 12.3 miCortlandville: 6% · 9.7 miGroton: 5% · 4.2 miNew York: 4% · 178.2 miCortland: 2% · 6.8 miHomer: 2% · 10 miSyracuse: 1% · 34.9 miIthaca 20%Dryden 14%Ithaca 12%Lansing 12%Cortlandville 6%McLean
McLeanTop destinations (size = commuters)
34%Under 10 mi56 residents
44%10–24 mi73 residents
5%25–50 mi8 residents
18%Over 50 mi30 residents

About 18% 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

65% of the jobs in McLean pay over $3,333 a month

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

Jobs based in McLeanJobs McLean residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms15%17%
Trade, transport & utilities10%14%
Services: health, schools, offices75%69%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less9%14%
$1,251–$3,333 a month26%25%
Over $3,333 a month65%61%

Who does it

29 or younger17%24%
30 to 5458%54%
55 and older25%22%
+9500%

Jobs based in McLean, 2013 → 2023: 1 → 96. 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 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 McLean

McLean home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from McLean, 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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