Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Preston has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Jobs and income earn Preston A−; getting around on foot earns it D. There are 559 jobs in Preston, and 2,318 of its residents work somewhere. Measured by household income, Preston is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Preston
Preston is a place people come home to
There are 559 jobs based in Preston, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Preston has about 3,100 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Preston works one town over
25% of working residents work in a town that borders Preston: Norwich (11%), Ledyard (6%) and Montville (6%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Preston are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 27 across Connecticut. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Connecticut worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Preston’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Preston is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #92 of 155 in Connecticut. The poverty rate holds Preston’s grade up (2.4%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Preston could be anywhere from B to A+.
Preston on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,196 residents head out to work, 122 work right here, and 437 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Preston on a workday afternoon, 36% 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.
The daily trip from Preston: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Preston workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,029 commuters (the 10% 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.
15% of working residents work in Groton
Where Preston clocks in
15% of workers
11% of workers
6% 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 Preston
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Preston, 2013 → 2023: 734 → 559. 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 Preston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Preston, 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.
Most trips from Preston start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Preston is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns, #151 of 155 in Connecticut. Both inputs place Preston near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,261 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 1.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 65% 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). 0.9% of Preston households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Preston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Preston is 985th of 3,840 U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Bethany CT | 5,339 | $166K | 2.3% | 1.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 146 | East Granby CT | 5,432 | $121K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 237 | Bolton CT | 4,875 | $126K | 7.2% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 983 | Alsace Township PA | 3,937 | $71K | 6.6% | 2.3% | 3% | A− |
| 984 | Brices Creek NC | 3,415 | $86K | 3.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| 985 | Preston CT | 4,873 | $117K | 2.4% | 5.4% | 5% | A− |
| 986 | Twinsburg Township OH | 3,879 | $129K | 9.7% | 4.7% | 2% | A− |
| 987 | Woodbridge CA | 4,144 | $94K | 9.0% | 2.9% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Preston, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
The towns next door employ 25% of Preston
The biggest share goes to Norwich (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Preston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston | – | A− | D | 22 min | $116,648 |
| Lisbon | under 2% | B+ | B | 32 min | $92,708 |
| Ledyard | 6% | A | C− | 22 min | $107,975 |
| Norwich | 11% | C | A | 24 min | $65,024 |
| Montville | 6% | B+ | C+ | 25 min | $96,454 |
| Griswold | 2% | B− | A− | 31 min | $78,719 |
| North Stonington | under 2% | A | C | 25 min | $123,938 |
| Mashantucket | under 2% | — | — | 7 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Mashantucket: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Preston’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 Preston: questions
What is the median household income in Preston?
$116,648 (±$26,909) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Preston?
2.4%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Preston?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Preston work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Groton (15%, 12 mi), Norwich (11%, 5 mi), Montville (6%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Preston walkable?
Preston is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Preston without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Preston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Preston
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.