Work & commute · Tonawanda

Work & commute in Tonawanda, NY

Most working residents leave Tonawanda for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Buffalo (20%), Amherst (18%) and Tonawanda (11%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

647 of 6,775 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,128 Tonawanda residents head out of town to work, 647 work right here, and 5,070 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Tonawanda.

6,128live here, work elsewhere

647live and work here

5,070work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Tonawanda goes to work

Buffalo8.3 mi away

20%1,386

Amherst6.4 mi away

18%1,187

Tonawanda2 mi away

11%724

Tonawanda (in town)right here

10%647

Cheektowaga10 mi away

7%444

North Tonawanda2.6 mi away

4%257

Niagara Falls8.7 mi away

3%206

Grand Island4 mi away

2%161

New York301.8 mi away

2%136

Lancaster14.5 mi away

2%130

Everywhere elseother towns and states

22%1,497

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

How far

How far Tonawanda commutes

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

72%

17%

10%

72%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

1%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Tonawanda is balanced between jobs and homes

0.84jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.84 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Tonawanda are

5,717 jobs are based in Tonawanda. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Tonawanda’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Tonawanda

5,717 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)33%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)41%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Tonawanda residents hold

6,775 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month61%

−0%

Jobs based in Tonawanda, 2013 → 2023: 5,744 → 5,717. 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.