Photo: Prb06787 · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Thomaston top those of 79% of U.S. towns
8% of workers have no commute at all; Connecticut has 16%. Poverty touches 2.3% of residents (Connecticut 10.0%). The two grades for Thomaston are A− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Thomaston apart on work
Inside Thomaston’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Thomaston is better than 82% of U.S. towns, #75 of 155 in Connecticut. The poverty rate holds Thomaston’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (5.6%, 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, Thomaston could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Making and building: 53% of jobs based in Thomaston
2,678 jobs are based in Thomaston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thomaston, 2013 → 2023: 2,502 → 2,678. 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 Thomaston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Thomaston
On a workday 3,588 residents head out to work, 385 work right here, and 2,293 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Thomaston on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.67 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 2023, primary jobs.
12% of working residents work in Waterbury
Where Thomaston clocks in
12% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
About 27 minutes to work from Thomaston
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thomaston workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,702 commuters (the 8% 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.
The commute from Thomaston, 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.
Thomaston is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Thomaston is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #65 of 155 in Connecticut. Both inputs place Thomaston 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 4,006 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 40% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 6.2% of Thomaston households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Thomaston’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Thomaston ranks: 730th of 3,071 U.S. towns of 5,300 to 10,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Bethany CT | 5,339 | $166K | 2.3% | 1.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 131 | East Granby CT | 5,432 | $121K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 244 | Prospect CT | 9,638 | $126K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 728 | Exeter RI | 6,540 | $111K | 12.8% | 1.0% | 8% | A− |
| 729 | Fairport NY | 5,326 | $107K | 12.6% | 1.8% | 7% | A− |
| 730 | Thomaston CT | 7,572 | $103K | 2.3% | 5.6% | 10% | A− |
| 731 | Long Hill Township NJ | 8,684 | $169K | 7.2% | 5.9% | 6% | A− |
| 732 | Suffield Township OH | 6,016 | $81K | 4.8% | 3.1% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,071 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Thomaston, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Work next door: 11% of Thomaston’s workers
The biggest share goes to Watertown (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Thomaston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomaston | – | A− | B+ | 27 min | $103,218 |
| Watertown | 5% | A | B+ | 24 min | $101,691 |
| Litchfield | 2% | B+ | B+ | 25 min | $102,609 |
| Plymouth | 4% | A− | C | 29 min | $94,514 |
| Morris | under 3% | B | C | 29 min | $109,191 |
| Harwinton | under 3% | A | C | 26 min | $129,643 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Thomaston’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 Thomaston: questions
What is the median household income in Thomaston?
$103,218 (±$15,497) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thomaston?
2.3%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thomaston?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thomaston work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waterbury (12%, 8 mi), Watertown (5%, 4 mi), Hartford (5%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Thomaston walkable?
Thomaston is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Thomaston without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Thomaston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thomaston
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.