Work & commute · Wells

Work & commute in Wells, NY

Most working residents leave Wells for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Lake Pleasant (18%), Hope (7%) and Queensbury (4%). Half commute less than 35 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

17 of 148 working residents

Typical commute

35 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

43 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 131 Wells residents head out of town to work, 17 work right here, and 106 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wells.

131live here, work elsewhere

17live and work here

106work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wells goes to work

Lake Pleasant10 mi away

18%26

Wells (in town)right here

11%17

Hope10.8 mi away

7%11

Queensbury31.6 mi away

4%6

Plattsburgh93.5 mi away

3%5

Albany61.1 mi away

3%5

New York195.2 mi away

3%4

Middlebury, VT68.6 mi away

2%3

Schenectady49.9 mi away

1%2

Burlington, VT87.4 mi away

1%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%67

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

How far

How far Wells commutes

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

26%

16%

13%

45%

26%Under 10 mi

16%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

45%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wells is balanced between jobs and homes

0.83jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.83 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Wells are

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

Jobs based in Wells

123 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)91%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month63%

Jobs Wells residents hold

148 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less26%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month48%

+78%

Jobs based in Wells, 2013 → 2023: 69 → 123. 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.