Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Canton are higher than in 87% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 25% of workers; Connecticut has 16%. 5.7% of residents are in poverty; Connecticut has 10.0%. The two grades for Canton are A for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Canton
The better-paid jobs are outside Canton
74% of Canton residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 47% of the jobs based in Canton pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 89% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Canton
25% of Canton 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.
What’s behind Canton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Canton is better than 89% of U.S. towns, #46 of 155 in Connecticut. Household income is its strongest input ($117,991, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.1%, 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, Canton could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The 3,234 jobs based in Canton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Canton, 2013 → 2023: 2,842 → 3,234. 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 Canton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Canton: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Canton workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,619 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.
How many people are in Canton by day
On a workday 3,948 residents head out to work, 469 work right here, and 2,765 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,100 people are in Canton on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.73 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.
11% of working residents work in Hartford
Where Canton clocks in
11% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
Half of Canton commutes less than 12 miles
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 Canton, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Canton is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns, #98 of 155 in Connecticut. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.5% 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 4,810 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 16% 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 4.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 84% 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). 6.4% of Canton households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Canton’s commuters take a bus or train.
502nd of 2,878: where Canton ranks among U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 181 | Oxford CT | 13,311 | $129K | 4.0% | 2.3% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 220 | Granby CT | 11,963 | $120K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 245 | Prospect CT | 9,638 | $126K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 500 | Dripping Springs TX | 11,167 | $109K | 2.1% | 3.4% | 9% | A |
| 501 | McFarland WI | 9,145 | $98K | 3.8% | 3.4% | 8% | A |
| 502 | Canton CT | 10,304 | $118K | 5.7% | 3.1% | 11% | A |
| 503 | Rosaryville MD | 12,883 | $159K | 3.8% | 5.4% | 1% | A |
| 504 | Lowell AR | 12,184 | $96K | 6.9% | 1.4% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | 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 Canton, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Next door is work for 10% of Canton
The biggest share goes to Avon (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Canton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canton | – | A | B− | 29 min | $117,991 |
| New Hartford | under 3% | A | B | 30 min | $109,695 |
| Burlington | under 3% | A | C | 29 min | $165,120 |
| Avon | 5% | A | B+ | 25 min | $154,058 |
| Simsbury | 5% | A | B+ | 26 min | $157,907 |
| Barkhamsted | under 3% | B+ | C+ | 28 min | $123,544 |
| Granby | under 3% | A+ | C+ | 28 min | $120,275 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Canton’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 Canton: questions
What is the median household income in Canton?
$117,991 (±$19,778) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Canton?
5.7%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Canton?
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 Canton work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hartford (11%, 13 mi), Farmington (7%, 9 mi), Avon (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Canton walkable?
Canton is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Canton 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 Canton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Canton
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.