Photo: Ambarenya13 · CC BY-SA 4.0Thompson has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
For jobs and income Thompson is better than 46% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (C−). Thompson has 1,306 jobs; 3,915 of its residents have a job. About one in ten work in Thompson; the top destination outside it is Putnam (8%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Thompson apart
No single place dominates Thompson’s commute
The biggest draw, Putnam, gets only 8% of working residents, and 53% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Thompson residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Thompson workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 27 across Connecticut. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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.
Where Thompson’s Jobs & income grade comes from
The poverty rate holds Thompson’s grade up (5.9%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (7.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Thompson could be anywhere from C to A−.
Where people from Thompson work
Where Thompson clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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.
A commute of about 32 minutes in Thompson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thompson workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,703 commuters (the 13% 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.
Thompson on a workday afternoon
On a workday 3,518 residents head out to work, 397 work right here, and 909 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,000 people are in Thompson on a workday afternoon, 27% 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.
What Thompson’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thompson, 2013 → 2023: 1,481 → 1,306. 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 Thompson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Thompson, 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.
Getting around Thompson: mostly by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,414 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 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 4.9% of Thompson households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Thompson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 6,700 to 12,900, Thompson ranks 1,761st of 2,790 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 215 | Granby CT | 11,963 | $120K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 239 | Prospect CT | 9,638 | $126K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 301 | Durham CT | 7,209 | $159K | 3.4% | 3.6% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,759 | Oberlin OH | 8,603 | $81K | 16.1% | 5.6% | 26% | B− |
| 1,760 | Perryton TX | 7,850 | $70K | 12.4% | 0.3% | 38% | B− |
| 1,761 | Thompson CT | 9,566 | $94K | 5.9% | 7.9% | 10% | B− |
| 1,762 | Augusta KS | 9,073 | $65K | 11.9% | 4.2% | 15% | B− |
| 1,763 | Selah WA | 8,678 | $75K | 13.9% | 4.4% | 11% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,790 | 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 Thompson, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Thompson and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Putnam. Darker towns draw more of Thompson’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 Thompson: questions
What is the median household income in Thompson?
$93,629 (±$17,531) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thompson?
5.9%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thompson?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thompson work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Putnam (8%, 6 mi), Killingly (7%, 11 mi), Webster (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Thompson walkable?
Thompson is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Thompson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Thompson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thompson
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.