Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Making a living in Staples
Only 4% work in Staples; the top destination outside it is New York City (21%, 47 miles). For 30% of workers, the job is at home (Connecticut 16%). Commuters spend 43 minutes getting to work on average, where Connecticut has 27 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Staples
Staples workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 43 minutes each way, against 27 across Connecticut. Over a year that’s about 330 hours of commuting, 123 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Staples trades workers with the towns around it
Staples has about as many jobs (2,615) as working residents (2,367), but they are mostly different people: 2,262 residents leave for work each day while 2,510 people come in. Only 4% of the jobs in Staples are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Staples’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Staples is New York City, NY, 47 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (505) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Home offices are common in Staples
30% of Staples workers work from home, against 16% across Connecticut. Time on the road ↓
Three in four Staples workers earn over $40,000 a year
78% of Staples’ 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. 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.
From Staples, about 43 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Staples workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,158 commuters (the 30% 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.
Staples by day and by night
On a workday 2,262 residents head out to work, 105 work right here, and 2,510 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 (1.10 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Miles to work from Staples
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.
In Staples, services account for most jobs
2,615 jobs are based in Staples.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Staples, 2013 → 2023: 2,022 → 2,615. 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 Staples’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Staples’ working residents head each day
Where Staples clocks in
21% of workers
16% 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.
The towns around Staples
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Staples workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staples | – | — | — | 43 min | $192,656 |
| Fairfield | 4% | A− | A | 33 min | $172,432 |
| Coleytown | under 2% | — | — | 38 min | — |
| Westport Village | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Greens Farms | under 2% | — | — | 49 min | — |
| Compo | under 2% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Southport | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Coleytown, Westport Village, Greens Farms, Compo and Southport: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Fairfield. Darker towns draw more of Staples’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 Staples: questions
What is the median household income in Staples?
$192,656 (±$58,400) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Staples?
4.4%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Staples?
43 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Staples work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (21%, 47 mi), Westport (16%, 3 mi), Stamford (10%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Staples without a car?
15% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Staples, from the people who make the trip.
More of Staples
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.