Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 2.0Households in New Canaan earn more than in almost any other U.S. town
Measured by household income, New Canaan is among the highest-earning towns in the country. The poverty rate is 3.7%; Connecticut has 10.0%. Jobs and income earn New Canaan A; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in New Canaan: the figures worth knowing
New Canaan trades workers with the towns around it
New Canaan has about as many jobs (6,474) as working residents (7,116), but they are mostly different people: 6,163 residents leave for work each day while 5,521 people come in. Only 15% of the jobs in New Canaan are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in New Canaan
35% of New Canaan workers work from home, against 16% across Connecticut. Time on the road ↓
New Canaan’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside New Canaan is New York City, NY, 41 miles away as the crow flies. 20% of working residents (1,406) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
New Canaan workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 38 minutes each way, against 27 across Connecticut. Over a year that’s about 291 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
79% of New Canaan’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data, and so do 72% of the jobs based in New Canaan. The jobs ↓
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.
Where New Canaan’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, New Canaan is better than 90% of U.S. towns, #38 of 155 in Connecticut. Household income holds New Canaan’s grade up ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
The Census reports New Canaan’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, New Canaan could be anywhere from A− to A+.
A workday in New Canaan: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 6,163 residents head out to work, 953 work right here, and 5,521 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 (0.91 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 trip to work from New Canaan: about 38 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Canaan workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,953 commuters (the 35% 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.
The distance from New Canaan to work
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.
New Canaan is a services town
6,474 jobs are based in New Canaan.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Canaan, 2014 → 2024: 5,988 → 6,474. 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 New Canaan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
20% of working residents work in New York City
Where New Canaan clocks in
20% of workers
14% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: New Canaan
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, New Canaan is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #25 of 155 in Connecticut. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 23.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across Connecticut, on an EPA index of 7.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 9,170 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 16% 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 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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). 3.1% of New Canaan households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 19% of New Canaan’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 15,000 to 29,000, New Canaan ranks 323rd of 1,787 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | North Haven CT | 24,799 | $133K | 4.1% | 2.0% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Berlin CT | 20,698 | $114K | 3.4% | 2.0% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | South Windsor CT | 27,036 | $145K | 4.9% | 2.4% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 321 | East Goshen Township PA | 18,365 | $107K | 5.7% | 3.2% | 3% | A |
| 322 | South Plainfield NJ | 24,891 | $130K | 3.0% | 5.6% | 10% | A |
| 323 | New Canaan CT | 21,208 | $250K | 3.7% | 5.2% | 13% | A |
| 324 | Somerset MA | 18,681 | $113K | 4.9% | 3.3% | 11% | A |
| 325 | Walpole MA | 26,237 | $172K | 3.6% | 5.3% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,787 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 New Canaan, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
The towns next door employ 23% of New Canaan
The biggest share goes to Stamford (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | New Canaan workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Canaan | – | A | A | 38 min | $250,000+ |
| Wilton | 2% | A | A− | 36 min | $242,199 |
| Stamford | 14% | B+ | A+ | 29 min | $111,586 |
| Norwalk | 5% | B+ | A | 27 min | $107,616 |
| Darien | 2% | A | A+ | 39 min | $250,000+ |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of New Canaan’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in New Canaan: questions
What is the median household income in New Canaan?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Canaan?
3.7%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Canaan?
38 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 35% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Canaan work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (20%, 41 mi), Stamford (14%, 6 mi), Greenwich (7%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is New Canaan walkable?
New Canaan is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 23% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Canaan without a car?
19% 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 New Canaan, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Canaan
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.