Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Sprague has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
362 jobs are based in Sprague for 1,348 working residents. Sprague grades B for jobs and income and B− for walkability. 5% of workers work from home; Connecticut has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Sprague
Sprague makes and builds things
59% of the jobs based in Sprague are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Sprague residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 22%. The jobs ↓
Sprague is a place people come home to
There are 362 jobs based in Sprague, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sprague has about 2,000 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Sprague
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sprague is better than 61% of U.S. towns, #119 of 155 in Connecticut. Household income holds Sprague’s grade up ($92,850, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Sprague could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Factories, building and farms: 59% of the jobs in Sprague
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sprague, 2013 → 2023: 309 → 362. 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 Sprague’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Sprague by day
On a workday 1,294 residents head out to work, 54 work right here, and 308 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Sprague on a workday afternoon, 33% 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.
12% of working residents work in Norwich
Where Sprague clocks in
12% of workers
11% 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.
The daily trip from Sprague: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sprague workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,498 commuters (the 5% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Sprague
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.
For most of Sprague, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sprague is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #100 of 155 in Connecticut. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across Connecticut, on an EPA index of 5.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,577 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 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 52% 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). 1.3% of Sprague households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Sprague’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sprague next to U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000: 1,641st of 4,618 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Andover CT | 3,173 | $135K | 1.8% | 0.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | Woodmont CT | 2,391 | $91K | 1.9% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 337 | Lyme CT | 2,424 | $135K | 2.9% | 2.9% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,639 | Gravette AR | 3,889 | $68K | 5.8% | 3.5% | 10% | B |
| 1,640 | Stanton TX | 2,694 | $93K | 5.0% | 6.0% | 11% | B |
| 1,641 | Sprague CT | 2,954 | $93K | 8.1% | 4.7% | 4% | B |
| 1,642 | Holden ME | 3,438 | $92K | 3.2% | 4.5% | 5% | B |
| 1,643 | New Baltimore NY | 3,139 | $100K | 8.4% | 3.1% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Sprague, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Bordering towns draw 12% of Sprague’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Norwich. Darker towns draw more of Sprague’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 Sprague: questions
What is the median household income in Sprague?
$92,850 (±$11,458) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sprague?
8.1%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sprague?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sprague work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Norwich (12%, 6 mi), Groton (11%, 20 mi), Montville (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sprague walkable?
Sprague is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sprague without a car?
2% 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 Sprague, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sprague
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.