Work & commute · Odessa

Work & commute in Odessa, NY

Most working residents leave Odessa for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Horseheads (12%), Dix (9%) and Montour (9%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2 of 171 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 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 169 Odessa residents head out of town to work, 2 work right here, and 184 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Odessa.

169live here, work elsewhere

2live and work here

184work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Odessa goes to work

Horseheads12.2 mi away

12%21

Dix5.7 mi away

9%16

Montour2 mi away

9%15

Ithaca13.8 mi away

9%15

Ithaca16.4 mi away

6%10

Elmira16.7 mi away

5%8

Lansing20.7 mi away

4%7

Rochester71.4 mi away

4%6

Ulysses15.1 mi away

2%4

Hector8.5 mi away

2%4

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%65

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

How far

How far Odessa commutes

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

21%

51%

19%

21%Under 10 mi

51%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Odessa is balanced between jobs and homes

1.09jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.09 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Odessa are

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

Jobs based in Odessa

186 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)89%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Odessa residents hold

171 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month53%

+4%

Jobs based in Odessa, 2013 → 2023: 178 → 186. 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.