Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Naugatuck commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 31.8 in Stamford. There are 6,121 jobs in Naugatuck, against 15,233 working residents. The two grades for Naugatuck are A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Naugatuck
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Naugatuck
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Naugatuck is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #94 of 155 in Connecticut. Job access by car holds Naugatuck’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Naugatuck could be anywhere from B to A.
Time on the road from Naugatuck: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Naugatuck workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,919 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.
Who leaves Naugatuck for work, and who comes in
On a workday 13,918 residents head out to work, 1,315 work right here, and 4,806 people come in from elsewhere.
About 23,000 people are in Naugatuck on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
9% of working residents work in Waterbury
Where Naugatuck clocks in
9% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
What Naugatuck’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Naugatuck, 2013 → 2023: 7,533 → 6,121. 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 Naugatuck’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Naugatuck, by distance
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Naugatuck
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Naugatuck is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #39 of 155 in Connecticut. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.4% 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 17,557 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 73% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 29% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 59% 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). 8.0% of Naugatuck households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Naugatuck’s commuters take a bus or train.
Naugatuck places 527th of 1,283 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 23,000 to 44,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | North Haven CT | 24,799 | $133K | 4.1% | 2.0% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Glastonbury CT | 35,503 | $157K | 3.8% | 2.9% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | South Windsor CT | 27,036 | $145K | 4.9% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 525 | Winter Park FL | 30,444 | $106K | 9.3% | 4.5% | 12% | A− |
| 526 | Dartmouth MA | 34,367 | $100K | 6.3% | 4.3% | 17% | A− |
| 527 | Naugatuck CT | 32,230 | $96K | 6.3% | 5.1% | 9% | A− |
| 528 | Allendale Township MI | 27,519 | $82K | 21.4% | 5.9% | 11% | A− |
| 529 | Westmont IL | 24,155 | $88K | 9.8% | 4.0% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,283 | 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 Naugatuck, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Around Naugatuck: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Waterbury (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Naugatuck workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naugatuck | – | A− | A− | 33 min | $96,324 |
| Beacon Falls | under 3% | A | C | 33 min | $101,516 |
| Middlebury | under 3% | A | A− | 25 min | $133,487 |
| Oxford | under 3% | A+ | C− | 30 min | $128,953 |
| Prospect | under 3% | A | C | 28 min | $126,394 |
| Waterbury | 9% | C− | A | 28 min | $51,886 |
| Bethany | under 3% | A+ | B | 32 min | $166,236 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Naugatuck’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 Naugatuck: questions
What is the median household income in Naugatuck?
$96,324 (±$9,473) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Naugatuck?
6.3%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Naugatuck?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Naugatuck work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waterbury (9%, 5 mi), New Haven (5%, 14 mi), Hartford (4%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Naugatuck walkable?
Naugatuck is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Naugatuck without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 29% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Naugatuck, from the people who make the trip.
More of Naugatuck
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.