Brookfield Center Historic District · Photo: The original uploader was Polaron at English Wikipedia. · CC BY 2.5Household incomes in Brookfield are higher than in 95% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Brookfield A; getting around on foot earns it C. Poverty touches 4.1% of residents, next to 10.0% for Connecticut as a whole. About one in seven work in Brookfield; the top destination outside it is Danbury (21%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Brookfield
Brookfield trades workers with the towns around it
Brookfield has about as many jobs (6,931) as working residents (7,833), but they are mostly different people: 6,727 residents leave for work each day while 5,825 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in Brookfield are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Brookfield and Danbury trade workers both ways
Danbury is the top workplace for Brookfield residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Brookfield come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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 Brookfield’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brookfield is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #31 of 155 in Connecticut. Household income is its strongest input ($148,360, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.5%, 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, Brookfield could be anywhere from A− to A+.
How a workday changes Brookfield
On a workday 6,727 residents head out to work, 1,106 work right here, and 5,825 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 (0.88 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.
Where Brookfield’s working residents head each day
Where Brookfield clocks in
21% of workers
5% 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.
Inside Brookfield’s 6,931 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brookfield, 2013 → 2023: 6,307 → 6,931. 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 Brookfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Brookfield: about 28 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brookfield workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,818 commuters (the 16% 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.
Brookfield’s commute, mile by mile
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.
The commute in Brookfield is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brookfield is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns, #134 of 155 in Connecticut. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across Connecticut.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 9,344 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.7% of Brookfield households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Brookfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Brookfield places 305th of 1,915 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 13,000 to 25,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | North Haven CT | 24,799 | $133K | 4.1% | 2.0% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Berlin CT | 20,698 | $114K | 3.4% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Ellington CT | 16,594 | $130K | 2.4% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 303 | Ladera Ranch CA | 23,793 | $184K | 4.2% | 4.3% | 4% | A |
| 304 | Arlington TN | 15,703 | $135K | 4.9% | 3.4% | 9% | A |
| 305 | Brookfield CT | 18,566 | $148K | 4.1% | 3.5% | 14% | A |
| 306 | Acton MA | 24,786 | $158K | 3.4% | 4.7% | 10% | A |
| 307 | Upper Allen Township PA | 24,700 | $99K | 4.3% | 2.7% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Brookfield, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Brookfield and its neighbors: 31% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brookfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookfield | – | A | C | 28 min | $148,360 |
| New Fairfield | under 2% | A− | B− | 42 min | $137,647 |
| Bridgewater | under 2% | A+ | B | 29 min | $159,365 |
| New Milford | 4% | B | B− | 30 min | $106,411 |
| Newtown | 3% | A | C | 34 min | $155,110 |
| Danbury | 21% | B− | A− | 30 min | $83,393 |
| Bethel | 3% | A | C+ | 33 min | $116,541 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Danbury. Darker towns draw more of Brookfield’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 Brookfield: questions
What is the median household income in Brookfield?
$148,360 (±$10,758) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brookfield?
4.1%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brookfield?
28 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brookfield work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Danbury (21%, 7 mi), Ridgefield (5%, 12 mi), Stamford (4%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brookfield walkable?
Brookfield is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brookfield without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brookfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brookfield
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.