Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Burlington’s household incomes are higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
25% of workers work from home (Connecticut 16%). Below the poverty line: 2.1% of residents; Connecticut has 10.0%. For jobs and income Burlington is better than 89% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (C).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Burlington, in brief
Burlington is a place people come home to
There are 1,115 jobs based in Burlington, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Burlington has about 6,200 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Burlington
25% of Burlington workers work from home, against 16% across Connecticut. 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.
Where Burlington’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Household income holds Burlington’s grade up ($165,120, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Burlington could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Who leaves Burlington for work, and who comes in
On a workday 4,494 residents head out to work, 288 work right here, and 827 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,200 people are in Burlington on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer than live here.
0.23 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.
Time on the road from Burlington: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Burlington workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,736 commuters (the 25% 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.
12% of working residents work in Hartford
Where Burlington clocks in
12% of workers
10% of workers
9% 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.
The kinds of work in Burlington
1,115 jobs are based in Burlington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Burlington, 2013 → 2023: 974 → 1,115. 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 Burlington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Burlington’s workers travel
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.
In Burlington, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across Connecticut, on an EPA index of 5.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,982 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). 2.1% of Burlington households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Burlington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Burlington next to U.S. towns of 6,900 to 13,300: 477th of 2,761 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 214 | Granby CT | 11,963 | $120K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 235 | Prospect CT | 9,638 | $126K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 299 | Durham CT | 7,209 | $159K | 3.4% | 3.6% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 475 | Porter Township IN | 9,699 | $123K | 4.6% | 2.7% | 3% | A |
| 476 | Harwood Heights IL | 8,761 | $81K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 4% | A |
| 477 | Burlington CT | 9,874 | $165K | 2.1% | 5.1% | 6% | A |
| 478 | Attica Township KS | 9,068 | $94K | 3.7% | 2.8% | 10% | A |
| 479 | Beachwood NJ | 11,340 | $107K | 4.5% | 3.1% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,761 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Burlington, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Bordering towns draw 22% of Burlington’s workers
The biggest share goes to Farmington (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Burlington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | – | A | C | 29 min | $165,120 |
| Avon | 3% | A | B+ | 25 min | $154,058 |
| Collinsville | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Harwinton | under 3% | A | C | 26 min | $129,643 |
| Canton | under 3% | A | B− | 29 min | $117,991 |
| Bristol | 9% | B− | B+ | 24 min | $79,076 |
| Farmington | 10% | A+ | A− | 24 min | $141,120 |
| New Hartford | under 3% | A | B | 30 min | $109,695 |
Same-state neighbors only. Collinsville: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Burlington’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 Burlington: questions
What is the median household income in Burlington?
$165,120 (±$13,287) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Burlington?
2.1%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Burlington?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Burlington work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hartford (12%, 14 mi), Farmington (10%, 6 mi), Bristol (9%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Burlington walkable?
Burlington is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Burlington without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Burlington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Burlington
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.