Photo: Doncram · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Canaan have higher incomes than those in 67% of U.S. towns
16.0% of residents live below the poverty line (Connecticut 10.0%). Canaan grades C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. 29% of workers have no commute at all, against 16% across Connecticut.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Canaan and work: the main findings
Commutes from Canaan are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 27 across Connecticut. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Connecticut worker, and quicker than any town next door (20 to 30 minutes). Time on the road ↓
A lot of Canaan works from home
29% of Canaan 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; with 505 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Canaan: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Canaan is better than 32% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Canaan’s grade up ($89,632, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.1%) is left out: Canaan’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Canaan could be anywhere from D to A−.
The trip to work from Canaan: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Canaan workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 403 commuters (the 29% 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.
Who works in Canaan, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 429 residents head out to work, 76 work right here, and 374 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 (0.89 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.
11% of working residents work in Salisbury
Where Canaan clocks in
11% of workers
10% of workers
3% 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.
What work there is in Canaan: 450 jobs
450 jobs are based in Canaan.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Canaan, 2013 → 2023: 460 → 450. 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 Canaan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Canaan to work
About 16% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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 Canaan, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Canaan is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across Connecticut, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 569 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). 3.8% of Canaan households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Canaan’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Canaan is 2,026th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 254 | Litchfield CT | 1,220 | $110K | 6.1% | 6.5% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 321 | Stonington CT | 1,017 | $109K | 5.1% | 5.4% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 545 | Warren CT | 1,389 | $135K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,024 | Albion WI | 1,158 | $68K | 9.0% | 2.5% | 1% | C |
| 2,025 | Colchester IL | 1,070 | $64K | 7.8% | 3.8% | 9% | C |
| 2,026 | Canaan CT | 1,091 | $90K | 16.0% | 2.1% | 15% | C |
| 2,027 | Adams Township IN | 1,245 | $71K | 25.7% | 3.4% | 1% | C |
| 2,028 | Mexico Beach FL | 1,275 | $64K | 5.6% | 8.5% | 11% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Canaan, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
21% of Canaan works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Salisbury (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Canaan workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canaan | – | C | A− | 17 min | $89,632 |
| Salisbury | 11% | B− | A− | 20 min | $124,256 |
| Norfolk | under 2% | B− | B | 27 min | $91,548 |
| North Canaan | 10% | C− | A− | 22 min | $71,976 |
| Cornwall | under 2% | B | A− | 30 min | $128,864 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Canaan’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 Canaan: questions
What is the median household income in Canaan?
$89,632 (±$25,455) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Canaan?
16.0%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Canaan?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Canaan work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Salisbury (11%, 6 mi), North Canaan (10%, 4 mi), Torrington (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Canaan walkable?
Canaan is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Canaan without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Canaan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Canaan
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.