Work & commute · Rochester

Work & commute in Rochester, NY

Most working residents leave Rochester for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are New York (11%), Kingston (8%) and Wawarsing (5%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

421 of 2,894 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

36 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

26%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,473 Rochester residents head out of town to work, 421 work right here, and 1,115 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Rochester.

2,473live here, work elsewhere

421live and work here

1,115work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Rochester goes to work

Rochester (in town)right here

15%421

New York81.3 mi away

11%329

Kingston16.3 mi away

8%243

Wawarsing8.9 mi away

5%158

Marbletown6.9 mi away

5%143

New Paltz9.9 mi away

5%141

Ulster17.5 mi away

4%111

Poughkeepsie21.1 mi away

2%65

Wallkill23.3 mi away

2%52

Poughkeepsie19.8 mi away

2%47

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%1,184

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

How far

How far Rochester commutes

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

27%

35%

10%

28%

27%Under 10 mi

35%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

28%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Rochester is a commuter town

0.53jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Rochester are

1,536 jobs are based in Rochester. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rochester’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Rochester

1,536 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Rochester residents hold

2,894 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+11%

Jobs based in Rochester, 2013 → 2023: 1,387 → 1,536. 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.