Photo: LibertyNALE · CC BY-SA 4.0Waterford’s household incomes are higher than in 80% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income B+: better than 72% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #106 of 155 in Connecticut.
Walkability B: more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns · #88 of 155 in Connecticut.
Working residents average 22 minutes each way (Connecticut 27, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Waterford; the top destination outside it is Groton (18%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Waterford
Waterford trades workers with the towns around it
Waterford has about as many jobs (8,222) as working residents (8,842), but they are mostly different people: 7,621 residents leave for work each day while 7,001 people come in. Only 15% of the jobs in Waterford are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Waterford works one town over
42% of working residents work in a town that borders Waterford: Groton (18%), New London (12%) and East Lyme (5%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Waterford are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 27 across Connecticut. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Connecticut worker. Time on the road ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
40% of the jobs in Waterford are in trade, transport and utilities, against 17% of the jobs its residents hold. 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.
What’s behind Waterford’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waterford is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #106 of 155 in Connecticut. The poverty rate holds Waterford’s grade up (4.6%, U.S. 12.5%); 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, Waterford could be anywhere from B to A.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 7,621 residents head out to work, 1,221 work right here, and 7,001 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 (0.93 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.
About 22 minutes each way, quicker than most of Connecticut
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waterford workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,454 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Connecticut: 82% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
What the 8,222 jobs in Waterford are
8,222 jobs are based in Waterford. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waterford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waterford, 2013 → 2023: 10,070 → 8,222. 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.
18% of working residents work in Groton
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Waterford clocks in
18% of workers
12% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Waterford commutes less than 7 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Most trips from Waterford start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waterford is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns, #88 of 155 in Connecticut. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 9,413 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 31% 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 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 62% 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). 4.8% of Waterford households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Waterford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Waterford is 841st of 1,931 U.S. towns of 14,000 to 28,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Waterford, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | North Haven CT | 24,799 | $133K | 4.1% | 2.0% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Berlin CT | 20,698 | $114K | 3.4% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | South Windsor CT | 27,036 | $145K | 4.9% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 839 | Frederickson WA | 25,383 | $110K | 5.7% | 5.7% | 3% | B+ |
| 840 | West Carson CA | 22,143 | $93K | 8.7% | 5.4% | 3% | B+ |
| 841 | Waterford CT | 20,435 | $105K | 4.6% | 5.6% | 14% | B+ |
| 842 | Swatara Township PA | 27,936 | $80K | 8.3% | 3.7% | 9% | B+ |
| 843 | San Carlos Park FL | 19,159 | $86K | 9.4% | 2.7% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,931 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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.
42% of Waterford works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Groton (18%). Darker towns draw more of Waterford’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Waterford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterford | – | B+ | B | 22 min | $104,820 |
| New London | 12% | C− | A+ | 19 min | $59,098 |
| East Lyme | 5% | A− | B | 26 min | $105,044 |
| Niantic | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Montville | 5% | B+ | C+ | 25 min | $96,454 |
| Ledyard | 2% | A | C− | 22 min | $107,975 |
| Conning Towers-Nautilus Park | under 2% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| Groton | 18% | B | A | 19 min | $88,284 |
| Gales Ferry | under 2% | — | — | 15 min | — |
| Oxoboxo River | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Niantic, Conning Towers-Nautilus Park, Gales Ferry and Oxoboxo River: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Waterford: questions
What is the median household income in Waterford?
$104,820 (±$9,365) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waterford?
4.6%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waterford?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waterford work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Groton (18%, 6 mi), New London (12%, 3 mi), East Lyme (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waterford walkable?
Waterford is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waterford without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waterford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waterford
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.