Work & commute · Waterloo

Work & commute in Waterloo, NY

Most working residents leave Waterloo for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Waterloo (16%), Seneca Falls (13%) and Geneva (10%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

243 of 1,887 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,644 Waterloo residents head out of town to work, 243 work right here, and 1,765 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waterloo.

1,644live here, work elsewhere

243live and work here

1,765work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waterloo goes to work

Waterloo2.9 mi away

16%293

Seneca Falls3.5 mi away

13%242

Geneva6.9 mi away

10%189

Arcadia17.5 mi away

4%72

Auburn14.9 mi away

4%67

Fayette4.3 mi away

4%67

New York215.9 mi away

3%53

Geneva8.9 mi away

3%51

Manchester17.9 mi away

2%46

Phelps9.4 mi away

2%36

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%771

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

How far

How far Waterloo commutes

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

48%

23%

11%

18%

48%Under 10 mi

23%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waterloo is balanced between jobs and homes

1.06jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.06 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Waterloo are

2,008 jobs are based in Waterloo. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waterloo’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Waterloo

2,008 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Waterloo residents hold

1,887 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month61%

+2%

Jobs based in Waterloo, 2013 → 2023: 1,969 → 2,008. 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.