Rev. John Ely House · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Bethel has 0.8 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income A: better than 87% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #53 of 155 in Connecticut.
Walkability C+: more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns · #102 of 155 in Connecticut.
Household incomes here are higher than in 87% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 33 minutes each way (Connecticut 27, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Bethel; the top destination outside it is Danbury (20%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Bethel
Bethel and Danbury trade workers both ways
Danbury is the top workplace for Bethel residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Bethel come from (24% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Bethel workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 27 across Connecticut. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Bethel’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bethel is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #53 of 155 in Connecticut. Household income is its strongest input ($116,541, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bethel could be anywhere from A− to A+.
20% of working residents work in Danbury
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Bethel clocks in
20% of workers
5% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 33 minutes each way, longer than most of Connecticut
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bethel workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,821 commuters (the 18% who work from home are left out). Across Connecticut: 82% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 7,855 residents head out to work, 1,135 work right here, and 5,806 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What the 6,941 jobs in Bethel are
6,941 jobs are based in Bethel. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bethel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bethel, 2013 → 2023: 6,893 → 6,941. 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.
Half of Bethel commutes less than 13 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Most trips from Bethel start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bethel is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns, #102 of 155 in Connecticut. Both inputs place Bethel near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,693 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 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 45% 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). 5.5% of Bethel households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Bethel’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bethel is 413th of 1,787 U.S. towns of 15,000 to 29,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Bethel, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | North Haven CT | 24,799 | $133K | 4.1% | 2.0% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Berlin CT | 20,698 | $114K | 3.4% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | South Windsor CT | 27,036 | $145K | 4.9% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 411 | Palmer Township PA | 22,721 | $116K | 4.5% | 4.0% | 8% | A |
| 412 | Camas WA | 27,749 | $141K | 5.0% | 4.0% | 13% | A |
| 413 | Bethel CT | 21,682 | $117K | 5.1% | 3.8% | 13% | A |
| 414 | Upper Providence Township PA | 24,963 | $141K | 3.9% | 5.6% | 9% | A |
| 415 | West Linn OR | 26,567 | $147K | 5.5% | 4.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,787 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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.
26% of Bethel works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Danbury (20%). Darker towns draw more of Bethel’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bethel workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethel | – | A | C+ | 33 min | $116,541 |
| Danbury | 20% | B− | A− | 30 min | $83,393 |
| Redding | under 2% | A− | B | 36 min | $186,060 |
| Brookfield | 3% | A | C | 28 min | $148,360 |
| Newtown | 3% | A | C | 34 min | $155,110 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Bethel: questions
What is the median household income in Bethel?
$116,541 (±$7,142) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bethel?
5.1%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bethel?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bethel work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Danbury (20%, 5 mi), Stamford (5%, 22 mi), Ridgefield (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bethel walkable?
Bethel is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bethel without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bethel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bethel
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.