Photo: Ferrantep2 · Public domainHousehold incomes in Bethany top those of 97% of U.S. towns
Only 7% work in Bethany itself; outside it, New Haven draws the most (19%, 8 miles). The poverty rate is 2.3%, next to 10.0% for Connecticut as a whole. Jobs and income earn Bethany A+; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Bethany apart on work
Inside Bethany’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bethany is among the top U.S. towns, #1 of 155 in Connecticut. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Bethany’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bethany stays A+.
The daily trip from Bethany: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bethany workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,917 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Connecticut: 82% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How a workday changes Bethany
On a workday 2,309 residents head out to work, 187 work right here, and 1,197 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,200 people are in Bethany on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.55 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.
Where people from Bethany work
Where Bethany clocks in
19% of workers
4% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
32% of the jobs in Bethany make or build things
1,384 jobs are based in Bethany.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bethany, 2013 → 2023: 1,064 → 1,384. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bethany’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Bethany
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how Bethany gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bethany is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns, #77 of 155 in Connecticut. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across Connecticut, on an EPA index of 6.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,313 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Bethany households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Bethany’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bethany is 42nd of 3,651 U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,200 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| 41 | Spring Valley Village TX | 4,402 | $245K | 1.0% | 2.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 42 | Bethany CT | 5,339 | $166K | 2.3% | 1.1% | 7% | A+ |
| 43 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| 44 | West Lakeland Township MN | 3,931 | $216K | 3.8% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 149 | East Granby CT | 5,432 | $121K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 245 | Bolton CT | 4,875 | $126K | 7.2% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 352 | Essex CT | 6,819 | $104K | 3.2% | 2.1% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,651 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Bethany, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Around Bethany: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Woodbridge (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bethany workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethany | – | A+ | B | 32 min | $166,236 |
| Woodbridge | 4% | A− | C+ | 25 min | $188,750 |
| Hamden | 4% | B+ | A | 22 min | $98,306 |
| Prospect | under 3% | A | C | 28 min | $126,394 |
| Beacon Falls | under 3% | A | C | 33 min | $101,516 |
| Naugatuck | under 3% | A− | A− | 33 min | $96,324 |
| Seymour | under 3% | A− | B+ | 32 min | $107,708 |
| Cheshire | under 3% | A | A− | 29 min | $146,528 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bethany’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Bethany: questions
What is the median household income in Bethany?
$166,236 (±$20,290) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bethany?
2.3%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bethany?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bethany work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Haven (19%, 8 mi), Stratford (4%, 16 mi), Hamden (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bethany walkable?
Bethany is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bethany without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bethany, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bethany
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.