Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Eastford are higher than in 75% of U.S. towns
6.2% of residents are in poverty, against 10.0% across Connecticut. For jobs and income Eastford is better than 74% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (C+). About one in ten work in Eastford itself; outside it, Killingly draws the most (7%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Eastford stands out on work
Eastford makes and builds things
65% of the jobs based in Eastford are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Eastford residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 24%. The jobs ↓
Most jobs in Eastford pay over $40,000 a year
76% of the jobs based in Eastford pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Eastford workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 27 across Connecticut. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 723 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Eastford’s Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Eastford’s grade up ($97,422, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 50% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (6.3%) is left out: Eastford’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, Eastford could be anywhere from B− to A.
Eastford works in goods: 65% of its jobs
547 jobs are based in Eastford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eastford, 2014 → 2024: 559 → 547. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Eastford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Eastford spends getting to work: about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eastford workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 741 commuters (the 15% 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.
Eastford quiets down on a workday
On a workday 665 residents head out to work, 58 work right here, and 489 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Eastford on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The places Eastford commutes to
Where Eastford clocks in
7% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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.
Where in the region Eastford works
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Eastford, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across Connecticut, on an EPA index of 4.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 868 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). 2.8% of Eastford households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Eastford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Eastford is 961st among 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 153 | Newtown CT | 1,980 | $165K | 2.0% | 3.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 173 | Bridgewater CT | 1,677 | $159K | 3.0% | 3.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 378 | Hartland CT | 1,928 | $113K | 4.7% | 2.4% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 959 | Lake Ketchum WA | 1,235 | $136K | 6.4% | 0.0% | <1% | B+ |
| 960 | Mount Wolf PA | 1,422 | $88K | 9.2% | 5.6% | <1% | B+ |
| 961 | Eastford CT | 1,715 | $97K | 6.2% | 6.3% | 8% | B+ |
| 962 | Londonderry VT | 1,897 | $85K | 2.4% | 0.5% | 22% | B+ |
| 963 | Smoke Rise AL | 1,471 | $86K | 5.5% | 8.6% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Eastford, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Around Eastford: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Woodstock (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Eastford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastford | – | B+ | C+ | 35 min | $97,422 |
| Ashford | under 3% | B+ | D | 34 min | $121,926 |
| Woodstock | 4% | B+ | C− | 31 min | $112,011 |
| Pomfret | 3% | B | B− | 24 min | $108,476 |
| Hampton | under 3% | A− | D | 29 min | $109,167 |
| Union | under 3% | — | — | 32 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Union: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Eastford’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 2024, 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 Eastford: questions
What is the median household income in Eastford?
$97,422 (±$20,442) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eastford?
6.2%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eastford?
35 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Eastford work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Killingly (7%, 13 mi), Putnam (6%, 12 mi), Mansfield (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Eastford walkable?
Eastford is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Eastford without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Eastford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eastford
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.