Photo: AirportExpert · CC BY-SA 4.0At 8.6%, unemployment in New Milford is higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, New Milford is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns. The two grades for New Milford are B for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in five work in New Milford; the top destination outside it is Danbury (18%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The figures behind New Milford’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, New Milford is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #124 of 155 in Connecticut. Household income holds New Milford’s grade up ($106,411, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, New Milford could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
The workday shuffle in and out of New Milford
On a workday 9,659 residents head out to work, 2,619 work right here, and 4,817 people come in from elsewhere.
About 24,000 people are in New Milford on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.61 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where New Milford’s working residents head each day
Where New Milford clocks in
18% 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 work there is in New Milford: 7,436 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Milford, 2014 → 2024: 7,457 → 7,436. 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 Milford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
New Milford’s commute takes about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Milford workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,408 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.
How many miles New Milford commutes
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 New Milford, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, New Milford is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns, #96 of 155 in Connecticut. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across Connecticut, on an EPA index of 6.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 14,613 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). 4.1% of New Milford households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of New Milford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, New Milford is 899th among 1,467 U.S. towns of 20,000 to 39,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | North Haven CT | 24,799 | $133K | 4.1% | 2.0% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Berlin CT | 20,698 | $114K | 3.4% | 2.0% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Glastonbury CT | 35,503 | $157K | 3.8% | 2.9% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 897 | Seagoville TX | 21,077 | $67K | 11.8% | 4.6% | 3% | B |
| 898 | Oak Ridge TN | 35,395 | $72K | 12.2% | 3.8% | 34% | B |
| 899 | New Milford CT | 28,941 | $106K | 7.1% | 8.6% | 21% | B |
| 900 | Westchester Township IN | 21,022 | $83K | 9.7% | 5.8% | 18% | B |
| 901 | Sun City West AZ | 27,425 | $64K | 7.6% | 3.8% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,467 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 16% | 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 Milford, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
New Milford and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Brookfield (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | New Milford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Milford | – | B | B− | 30 min | $106,411 |
| Bridgewater | under 2% | A+ | B | 29 min | $159,365 |
| Sherman | under 2% | A− | C | 40 min | $116,000 |
| Washington | 2% | B | A− | 26 min | $101,549 |
| Brookfield | 5% | A | C | 28 min | $148,360 |
| Kent | under 2% | B | A− | 20 min | $96,064 |
| New Fairfield | under 2% | A− | B− | 42 min | $137,647 |
| New Preston | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Candlewood Lake Club | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. New Preston and Candlewood Lake Club: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of New Milford’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 New Milford: questions
What is the median household income in New Milford?
$106,411 (±$7,903) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Milford?
7.1%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Milford?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Milford work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Danbury (18%, 14 mi), Brookfield (5%, 9 mi), New York City (4%, 70 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is New Milford walkable?
New Milford is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Milford without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Milford, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Milford
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.