Photo: Staib (please credit if used) · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Orange are higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
3.9% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.0% across Connecticut. The two grades for Orange are A+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in ten stay in Orange for work; outside it, New Haven is the main destination (17%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Orange stands out on work
A lot of Orange works one town over
36% of working residents work in a town that borders Orange: New Haven (17%), Milford (10%) and West Haven (5%). Next door ↓
Orange is where the jobs are
Orange has 10,254 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
43% of the jobs in Orange are in trade, transport and utilities, against 16% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Orange
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Orange is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #13 of 155 in Connecticut. Household income is its strongest input ($142,325, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Orange could be anywhere from A to A+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Orange
On a workday 6,055 residents head out to work, 685 work right here, and 9,569 people come in from elsewhere.
About 18,000 people are in Orange on a workday afternoon, 24% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in Orange
10,254 jobs are based in Orange.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orange, 2013 → 2023: 9,734 → 10,254. 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 Orange’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the people who work in Orange live
Where Orange clocks in
17% of workers
10% 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.
Orange’s commute takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orange workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,767 commuters (the 16% 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 far it is to work from Orange
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.
The commute in Orange is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orange is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #86 of 155 in Connecticut. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% 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 6,832 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 34% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 11% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 77% 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). 4.0% of Orange households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Orange’s commuters take a bus or train.
Orange is 187th of 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 133 | Ellington CT | 16,594 | $130K | 2.4% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| 134 | Tolland CT | 14,752 | $133K | 5.3% | 1.2% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 146 | Colchester CT | 15,825 | $122K | 3.9% | 1.7% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 185 | Lynnfield MA | 13,274 | $175K | 6.0% | 3.0% | 7% | A+ |
| 186 | Scioto Township OH | 11,677 | $95K | 3.1% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 187 | Orange CT | 14,416 | $142K | 3.9% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 188 | Robinson Township PA | 15,735 | $103K | 5.5% | 1.6% | 11% | A+ |
| 189 | Milford Township PA | 10,233 | $125K | 4.4% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Orange, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Next door is work for 36% of Orange
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Orange workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | – | A+ | B | 28 min | $142,325 |
| West Haven | 5% | C+ | A | 23 min | $74,382 |
| Milford | 10% | A | A− | 25 min | $110,669 |
| Derby | under 3% | B | B+ | 27 min | $79,500 |
| Woodbridge | under 3% | A− | C+ | 25 min | $188,750 |
| Shelton | 4% | A− | B− | 30 min | $108,185 |
| New Haven | 17% | C− | A+ | 22 min | $56,851 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to New Haven. Darker towns draw more of Orange’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 Orange: questions
What is the median household income in Orange?
$142,325 (±$10,458) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orange?
3.9%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orange?
28 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orange work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Haven (17%, 6 mi), Milford (10%, 4 mi), West Haven (5%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Orange walkable?
Orange is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orange without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 11% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orange, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orange
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.