Thomas Lyman House · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Durham are higher than in 96% of U.S. towns
Only 8% work in Durham; the top destination outside it is New Haven (10%, 17 miles). Below the poverty line: 3.4% of residents, against 10.0% across Connecticut. Durham grades A 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
Work in Durham, in a few figures
Why Durham gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Durham is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #20 of 155 in Connecticut. Household income is its strongest input ($158,857, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.6%, 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, Durham could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Factories, building and farms: 35% of the jobs in Durham
2,247 jobs are based in Durham.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Durham, 2013 → 2023: 1,884 → 2,247. 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 Durham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Durham quiets down on a workday
On a workday 3,124 residents head out to work, 269 work right here, and 1,978 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,100 people are in Durham on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.66 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.
Where the trip to work from Durham ends
Where Durham clocks in
10% of workers
7% 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.
Durham’s commute takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Durham workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,495 commuters (the 21% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Durham
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 Durham, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Durham is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns, #145 of 155 in Connecticut. Both inputs place Durham near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,398 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). 1.3% of Durham households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Durham’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Durham ranks: 303rd of 3,205 U.S. towns of 5,000 to 9,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Bethany CT | 5,339 | $166K | 2.3% | 1.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 128 | East Granby CT | 5,432 | $121K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 241 | Prospect CT | 9,638 | $126K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 301 | Farmingdale NY | 8,584 | $123K | 5.2% | 3.7% | 5% | A |
| 302 | Midland NC | 5,151 | $101K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| 303 | Durham CT | 7,209 | $159K | 3.4% | 3.6% | 8% | A |
| 304 | Dacono CO | 6,844 | $105K | 3.9% | 2.6% | 2% | A |
| 305 | North Haledon NJ | 9,089 | $125K | 3.3% | 4.6% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,205 | 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 Durham, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Next door is work for 16% of Durham
The biggest share goes to Wallingford (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Durham workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durham | – | A | C− | 23 min | $158,857 |
| Haddam | under 2% | A− | B− | 31 min | $114,426 |
| Guilford | under 2% | A | B | 26 min | $137,816 |
| Killingworth | under 2% | A | C− | 24 min | $140,655 |
| Middlefield | 3% | A− | C+ | 25 min | $99,837 |
| Wallingford | 7% | A | B+ | 24 min | $104,773 |
| Northford | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| North Branford | under 2% | A− | C | 26 min | $108,032 |
| Madison | under 2% | A− | A− | 30 min | $167,442 |
| Middletown | 6% | B | A | 23 min | $79,438 |
Same-state neighbors only. Northford: 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 Durham’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 Durham: questions
What is the median household income in Durham?
$158,857 (±$7,311) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Durham?
3.4%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Durham?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Durham work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Haven (10%, 17 mi), Wallingford (7%, 6 mi), Hartford (7%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Durham walkable?
Durham is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Durham without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Durham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Durham
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.