John Barker House · Photo: UDChE89 · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Wallingford have higher incomes than those in 80% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Wallingford itself; outside it, New Haven draws the most (11%, 12 miles). 5.4% of residents live below the poverty line; Connecticut has 10.0%. For jobs and income Wallingford is better than 86% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Wallingford at work: what stands out
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Wallingford
Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 88% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wallingford could be anywhere from A− to A.
Who commutes out of Wallingford, and who commutes in
On a workday 16,883 residents head out to work, 4,396 work right here, and 21,088 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 (1.20 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.
Where Wallingford’s working residents head each day
Where Wallingford clocks in
11% of workers
6% 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.
Jobs in Wallingford: what the 25,484 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wallingford, 2013 → 2023: 26,426 → 25,484. 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 Wallingford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Wallingford: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wallingford workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 20,114 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.
How far it is to work from Wallingford
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.
Most trips from Wallingford start in a car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across Connecticut.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 23,205 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 51% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 22% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 64% 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). 5.3% of Wallingford households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Wallingford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wallingford places 223rd of 1,000 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 31,000 to 60,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Glastonbury CT | 35,503 | $157K | 3.8% | 2.9% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 114 | Southington CT | 44,242 | $124K | 4.9% | 3.4% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 220 | Newington CT | 31,647 | $103K | 6.4% | 3.6% | 11% | A |
| 221 | Guilderland NY | 38,216 | $112K | 5.9% | 3.2% | 11% | A |
| 222 | Carol Stream IL | 39,315 | $102K | 6.4% | 3.9% | 8% | A |
| 223 | Wallingford CT | 44,406 | $105K | 5.4% | 3.9% | 21% | A |
| 224 | Medford MA | 59,834 | $130K | 7.6% | 4.3% | 8% | A |
| 225 | Catonsville MD | 43,368 | $114K | 6.9% | 4.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,000 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 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 Wallingford, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Bordering towns draw 18% of Wallingford’s workers
The biggest share goes to North Haven (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wallingford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wallingford | – | A | B+ | 24 min | $104,773 |
| North Haven | 6% | A+ | A− | 22 min | $132,689 |
| Northford | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| North Branford | under 2% | A− | C | 26 min | $108,032 |
| Cheshire | 3% | A | A− | 29 min | $146,528 |
| Meriden | 5% | C+ | A | 23 min | $71,253 |
| Durham | under 2% | A | C− | 23 min | $158,857 |
| Hamden | 4% | B+ | A | 22 min | $98,306 |
Same-state neighbors only. Northford: 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 Wallingford’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 Wallingford: questions
What is the median household income in Wallingford?
$104,773 (±$5,444) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wallingford?
5.4%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wallingford?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wallingford work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Haven (11%, 12 mi), North Haven (6%, 6 mi), Meriden (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wallingford walkable?
Wallingford is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wallingford without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 22% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wallingford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wallingford
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.