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Torrington Public Library 392smPhoto: Doncram · CC BY-SA 3.0
Jobs & commute in Torrington

At 6.8%, unemployment in Torrington is higher than in 81% of U.S. towns

Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 31.8 in Stamford. The two grades for Torrington are C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in four stay in Torrington for work; outside it, Waterbury is the main destination (4%, 20 miles).

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

What stands out

Work in Torrington, in a few figures

Jobs & income grade

What’s behind Torrington’s Jobs & income grade

On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Torrington is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #143 of 155 in Connecticut. Job access by car holds Torrington’s grade up (ahead of 68% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.

Household income $70,856 (±$4,937) · CT $95,781 · U.S. $80,734Higher than 43% of U.S. towns
Poverty 13.7% · CT 10.0% · U.S. 12.5%Lower than 32% of U.S. towns
Unemployment 6.8% (±2.4) · CT 5.6% · U.S. 5.2%Lower than 19% of U.S. towns
Job access by car EPA, jobs within a 45-minute driveMore than 68% of U.S. towns
Connecticut towns we grade 155 towns#143 of 155
CB−

A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Torrington could be anywhere from C to B−.

How TownRatings grades jobs & income →

★ What stands out · The commute map

Where Torrington goes to work

Hartford: 670 residents work here (4%)Danbury: 279 residents work here (2%)TorringtonBristol: 424 residents work here (2%)Waterbury: 765 residents work here (4%)New York: 573 residents work here (3%)WatertownWinchester: 450 residents work here (3%)GoshenHarwintonFarmington: 378 residents work here (2%)BarkhamstedLitchfield: 511 residents work here (3%)New HartfordNorth Canaan: 284 residents work here (2%)PlymouthNorthwest HarwintonWaterburyHartfordNew YorkLitchfieldWinchesterBristolTorrington
1
Torrington (in town)right here
25%4,405
2
Waterbury19.7 mi away
4%765
3
Hartford23.6 mi away
4%670
4
New York City, NY91.2 mi away
3%573
5
Litchfield7.2 mi away
3%511
6
Winchester6.5 mi away
3%450
7
Bristol14.4 mi away
2%424
8
Farmington16.6 mi away
2%378
9
North Canaan15.4 mi away
2%284
10
Danbury35 mi away
2%279
Everywhere elseother towns and states
51%8,939
The top trips

Where Torrington clocks in

Lines 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.

Day and night

How a workday changes Torrington

On a workday 13,273 residents head out to work, 4,405 work right here, and 8,651 people come in from elsewhere.

13,273live here, work elsewhere
4,405live and work here
8,651work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night36,000
Workday31,000
36,000live here− 13,000head out to work+ 8,700come in to work= 31,000on a workday

About 31,000 people are in Torrington on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.74jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.74 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.

The jobs

What the 13,056 jobs in Torrington are

Jobs based in TorringtonJobs Torrington residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms20%21%
Trade, transport & utilities20%20%
Services: health, schools, offices59%59%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less14%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month29%25%
Over $3,333 a month57%62%

Who does it

29 or younger21%20%
30 to 5448%50%
55 and older30%30%
−10%

Jobs based in Torrington, 2013 → 2023: 14,559 → 13,056. 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 Torrington’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

Each way, about 25 minutes from Torrington

A year of commuting
192 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Torrington25 min
Connecticut27 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
9%

of Torrington workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How Torrington gets to work
84%Drive alone
12%Carpool
<1%Transit
3%Walk

Share of the 16,414 commuters (the 9% 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.

How far

The commute from Torrington, by distance

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miWaterbury: 4% · 19.7 miHartford: 4% · 23.6 miNew York City: 3% · 91.2 miLitchfield: 3% · 7.2 miWinchester: 3% · 6.5 miBristol: 2% · 14.4 miFarmington: 2% · 16.6 miNorth Canaan: 2% · 15.4 miDanbury: 2% · 35 miWaterbury 4%Hartford 4%New York City 3%Litchfield 3%Winchester 3%Torrington
TorringtonTop destinations (size = commuters)
34%Under 10 mi5,951 residents
37%10–24 mi6,466 residents
20%25–50 mi3,581 residents
9%Over 50 mi1,668 residents

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 · Walkability grade

Torrington is easy on foot, hard by bus

On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Torrington is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #59 of 155 in Connecticut. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across Connecticut.

EPA walkability index 8.8 of 20 · typical CT town 7.1 · U.S. 6.9Higher than 76% of U.S. towns
Walk, bike or transit 3.2% of commuters · CT 7.1% · U.S. 7.1%Higher than 61% of U.S. towns
Connecticut towns we grade 155 towns#59 of 155
A−A−

A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 18,039 workers.

How TownRatings grades walkability →

Transit service (shown, not graded). 32% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 5% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 54% 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

Stamford31.8
Torrington0.7

Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.0% of Torrington households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Torrington’s commuters take a bus or train.

Towns its size

Torrington next to U.S. towns of 25,000 to 48,000: 996th of 1,219 on jobs and income

#TownPeopleHousehold incomePovertyUnemploymentWork in townGrade
1Upper Dublin Township PA27,258$168K3.2%1.9%8%A+
2Southlake TX31,175$250K1.5%2.7%11%A+
3Leawood KS34,093$186K3.1%2.0%9%A+
…
50Glastonbury CT35,503$157K3.8%2.9%15%A+
…
56South Windsor CT27,036$145K4.9%2.4%10%A+
…
66Farmington CT28,632$141K4.2%2.7%17%A+
…
994Greenville TX37,069$63K11.5%5.7%28%C+
995Channelview TX43,605$64K20.3%6.9%6%C+
996Torrington CT35,796$71K13.7%6.8%25%C+
997Union City GA29,910$50K14.2%5.8%5%C+
998Bellview FL26,488$70K15.4%5.6%3%C+
…
1,219Bullhead City AZ43,987$51K18.7%11.5%26%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 Torrington, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.

Next door

Torrington and its neighbors

The biggest share goes to Winchester (3%).

Jobs & commute next door

TownTorrington workers thereJobs & incomeWalkabilityCommuteHousehold income
Torrington–C+A−25 min$70,856
Winchester3%C+A26 min$66,519
Northwest Harwintonunder 2%——31 min—
Harwintonunder 2%AC26 min$129,643
New Hartfordunder 2%AB30 min$109,695
Goshenunder 2%B+B42 min$152,093
Litchfield3%B+B+25 min$102,609

Same-state neighbors only. Northwest Harwinton: 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 Torrington’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Torrington: questions

What is the median household income in Torrington?

$70,856 (±$4,937) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Torrington?

13.7%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Torrington?

25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Torrington work?

25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waterbury (4%, 20 mi), Hartford (4%, 24 mi), New York City (3%, 91 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Is Torrington walkable?

Torrington is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.

Can you get around Torrington without a car?

<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 5% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Torrington, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Torrington

Torrington home →

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.