Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Manchester (5.6%) than in 69% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 23 minutes getting to work on average; Connecticut averages 27, the U.S. 26. Manchester grades B for jobs and income and A for walkability. Measured by household income, Manchester is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Manchester apart
Inside Manchester’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Manchester is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #117 of 155 in Connecticut. Job access by car holds Manchester’s grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Manchester could be anywhere from B− to B+.
How a workday changes Manchester
On a workday 23,011 residents head out to work, 4,651 work right here, and 20,744 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 (0.92 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.
16% of working residents work in Hartford
Where Manchester clocks in
16% of workers
6% 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.
The kinds of work in Manchester
25,395 jobs are based in Manchester.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Manchester, 2013 → 2023: 26,806 → 25,395. 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 Manchester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 23 minutes in Manchester
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Manchester workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 27,143 commuters (the 14% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Manchester
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.
Manchester is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 31,680 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 84% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 26% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 11.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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). 7.1% of Manchester households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Manchester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 737 U.S. towns of 42,000 to 81,000, Manchester comes 419th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Southington CT | 44,242 | $124K | 4.9% | 3.4% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | West Hartford CT | 64,242 | $130K | 6.3% | 4.1% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 157 | Wallingford CT | 44,406 | $105K | 5.4% | 3.9% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 417 | Portland ME | 69,911 | $80K | 11.2% | 4.2% | 48% | B |
| 418 | Kentwood MI | 54,776 | $74K | 10.4% | 4.5% | 14% | B |
| 419 | Manchester CT | 59,773 | $87K | 10.8% | 5.6% | 17% | B |
| 420 | Millcreek Township PA | 52,680 | $76K | 9.7% | 3.5% | 23% | B |
| 421 | Salem MA | 45,381 | $85K | 12.1% | 5.1% | 17% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 737 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Manchester, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Next door is work for 16% of Manchester
The biggest share goes to East Hartford (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Manchester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | – | B | A | 23 min | $86,840 |
| Glastonbury | 3% | A+ | C+ | 24 min | $157,192 |
| Bolton | under 3% | A | C+ | 25 min | $126,364 |
| East Hartford | 6% | B− | A | 22 min | $70,778 |
| South Windsor | 4% | A+ | B− | 23 min | $144,961 |
| Vernon | 3% | B− | A− | 27 min | $85,356 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Manchester’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 Manchester: questions
What is the median household income in Manchester?
$86,840 (±$4,023) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Manchester?
10.8%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Manchester?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Manchester work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hartford (16%, 8 mi), East Hartford (6%, 4 mi), Windsor (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Manchester walkable?
Manchester is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.1 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Manchester without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 26% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Manchester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Manchester
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.