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Work & commute in Town Line · A commuter town

99% of Town Line’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Town Line for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Buffalo (17%), Amherst (13%) and Alden (11%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Work in town
1%
11 of 1,108 working residents
Typical commute
11 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
29 min
Less than NY (33 min)
Work from home
10%
Less than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
345
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Town Line?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

17% of working residents work in Buffalo

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

Buffalo: 186 residents work here (17%)Alden: 122 residents work here (11%)Amherst: 139 residents work here (13%)Clarence: 39 residents work here (4%)West Seneca: 34 residents work here (3%)Orchard ParkSardiniaTonawanda: 30 residents work here (3%)Newstead: 28 residents work here (3%)Lancaster: 120 residents work here (11%)MarillaCheektowaga: 113 residents work here (10%)Hamburg: 25 residents work here (2%)Town LineBuffaloAmherstAldenLancasterCheektowagaClarenceTown Line
1
Buffalo14.9 mi away
17%186
2
Amherst12.9 mi away
13%139
3
Alden2.6 mi away
11%122
4
Lancaster3.8 mi away
11%120
5
Cheektowaga9.1 mi away
10%113
6
Clarence10.3 mi away
4%39
7
West Seneca10 mi away
3%34
8
Tonawanda17 mi away
3%30
9
Newstead9.2 mi away
3%28
10
Hamburg18 mi away
2%25
Everywhere elseother towns and states
25%272
The top trips

Where Town Line clocks in

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

The jobs

69% of the jobs in Town Line pay over $3,333 a month

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

Jobs based in Town LineJobs Town Line residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms6%19%
Trade, transport & utilities16%19%
Services: health, schools, offices78%62%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less12%14%
$1,251–$3,333 a month19%20%
Over $3,333 a month69%66%

Who does it

29 or younger32%22%
30 to 5444%47%
55 and older24%31%
+39%

Jobs based in Town Line, 2013 → 2023: 249 → 345. 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

Town Line quiets down on a workday

On a workday 1,097 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 334 people come in from elsewhere.

1,097live here, work elsewhere
11live and work here
334work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night2,200
Workday1,500
2,200live here− 1,100head out to work+ 330come in to work= 1,500on a workday

About 1,500 people are in Town Line on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.31jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.31 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 Town Line commutes less than 11 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi30 miBuffalo: 17% · 14.9 miAmherst: 13% · 12.9 miAlden: 11% · 2.6 miLancaster: 11% · 3.8 miCheektowaga: 10% · 9.1 miClarence: 4% · 10.3 miWest Seneca: 3% · 10 miTonawanda: 3% · 17 miNewstead: 3% · 9.2 miHamburg: 2% · 18 miBuffalo 17%Amherst 13%Alden 11%Lancaster 11%Town Line
Town LineTop destinations (size = commuters)
42%Under 10 mi466 residents
46%10–24 mi512 residents
4%25–50 mi39 residents
8%Over 50 mi90 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

Time on the road

About 29 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
223 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Town Line29 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
10%

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

About 1 in 10
Next door

11% of Town Line works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Alden (11%). Darker towns draw more of Town Line’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Alden27 min
Marilla28 min
Town Line29 min
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 Town Line

Town Line home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Town Line, 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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