Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Colebrook have higher incomes than those in 84% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 7% of workers; Connecticut has 16%. Below the poverty line: 8.3% of residents, where Connecticut as a whole has 10.0%. The two grades for Colebrook are B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Colebrook
The better-paid jobs are outside Colebrook
68% of Colebrook residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 43% of the jobs based in Colebrook pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Colebrook workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 27 across Connecticut. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Colebrook’s workforce skews older
37% of Colebrook’s working residents are 55 or older. The jobs ↓
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 721 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Colebrook’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Colebrook is better than 61% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Colebrook’s grade up ($111,250, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (1.8%) is left out: Colebrook’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Colebrook could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Services make up most of the work in Colebrook
577 jobs are based in Colebrook.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Colebrook, 2013 → 2023: 110 → 577. 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 Colebrook’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Colebrook spends getting to work: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Colebrook workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 719 commuters (the 7% 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.
In and out of Colebrook on a workday
On a workday 701 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 557 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Colebrook on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.80 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.
12% of working residents work in Torrington
Where Colebrook clocks in
12% 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 Colebrook commutes less than 23 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.
The commute in Colebrook is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Colebrook is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across Connecticut, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 773 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). 1.5% of Colebrook households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Colebrook’s commuters take a bus or train.
Colebrook places 1,462nd of 5,877 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 160 | Bridgewater CT | 1,677 | $159K | 3.0% | 3.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 434 | Litchfield CT | 1,220 | $110K | 6.1% | 6.5% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 546 | Stonington CT | 1,017 | $109K | 5.1% | 5.4% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,460 | Gilmer Park IN | 1,055 | $77K | 10.7% | 2.5% | <1% | B |
| 1,461 | Greenleaf WI | 1,404 | $83K | 11.9% | 5.5% | <1% | B |
| 1,462 | Colebrook CT | 1,388 | $111K | 8.3% | 1.8% | 3% | B |
| 1,463 | Ten Mile Creek MD | 1,184 | $113K | 46.9% | 27.5% | <1% | B |
| 1,464 | Churchill MT | 1,167 | $108K | 6.3% | 1.3% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | 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 Colebrook, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Around Colebrook: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Colebrook workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colebrook | – | B | C+ | 34 min | $111,250 |
| Winchester | 7% | C+ | A | 26 min | $66,519 |
| Hartland | under 3% | A | D | 35 min | $113,375 |
| Norfolk | under 3% | B− | B | 27 min | $91,548 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Winchester. Darker towns draw more of Colebrook’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 Colebrook: questions
What is the median household income in Colebrook?
$111,250 (±$17,080) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Colebrook?
8.3%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Colebrook?
34 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Colebrook work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Torrington (12%, 12 mi), Winchester (7%, 6 mi), Hartford (5%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Colebrook walkable?
Colebrook is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Colebrook 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 Colebrook, from the people who make the trip.
More of Colebrook
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.