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Westbrook Historical Society, Westbrook CTPhoto: John Phelan · CC BY 4.0
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Jobs & commute in Westbrook Center

How Westbrook Center works: jobs, income and commuting

Working residents average 21 minutes each way, next to 27 for Connecticut and 26 for the U.S. About one in ten work in Westbrook Center itself; outside it, Westbrook draws the most (13%, 2 miles). Employers in Westbrook Center report 1,108 jobs, against 924 working residents.

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

What stands out · In brief

The work figures that set Westbrook Center apart

Nearly all the work in Westbrook Center is services

91% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓

Westbrook Center’s workforce skews older

38% of Westbrook Center’s working residents are 55 or older. The jobs ↓

Commutes from Westbrook Center are quick

The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across Connecticut. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Connecticut 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; with 924 working residents, small shifts move the shares.

★ What stands out · The jobs

Westbrook Center is a services town

Jobs based in Westbrook CenterJobs Westbrook Center residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms3%17%
Trade, transport & utilities6%19%
Services: health, schools, offices91%64%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less15%14%
$1,251–$3,333 a month32%21%
Over $3,333 a month54%65%

Who does it

29 or younger16%20%
30 to 5449%43%
55 and older35%38%
−0%

Jobs based in Westbrook Center, 2013 → 2023: 1,111 → 1,108. 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 Westbrook Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

The daily trip from Westbrook Center: about 21 minutes

A year of commuting
160 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Westbrook Center21 min
Connecticut27 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
16%

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

About 2 in 10
How Westbrook Center gets to work
81%Drive alone
12%Carpool
3%Walk
4%Other

Share of the 1,179 commuters (the 16% 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.

Day and night

How a workday changes Westbrook Center

On a workday 847 residents head out to work, 77 work right here, and 1,031 people come in from elsewhere.

847live here, work elsewhere
77live and work here
1,031work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night2,500
Workday2,700
2,500live here− 850head out to work+ 1,000come in to work= 2,700on a workday

About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.

Job hub or commuter town?
1.20jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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.

The commute map

Where the trip to work from Westbrook Center ends

Hartford: 30 residents work here (3%)New Haven: 55 residents work here (6%)Middletown: 22 residents work here (2%)Guilford: 25 residents work here (3%)Westbrook: 122 residents work here (13%)Branford: 21 residents work here (2%)Clinton: 35 residents work here (4%)East LymeOld Saybrook: 65 residents work here (7%)KillingworthEssex: 26 residents work here (3%)Madison: 30 residents work here (3%)Deep RiverSaybrook ManorWestbrook CenterWestbrookOld SaybrookNew HavenClintonHartfordMadisonWestbrook Center
1
Westbrook2.4 mi away
13%122
2
Old Saybrook3.2 mi away
7%65
3
New Haven25.1 mi away
6%55
4
Clinton4.7 mi away
4%35
5
Hartford35.7 mi away
3%30
6
Madison10.4 mi away
3%30
7
Essex5 mi away
3%26
8
Guilford14.3 mi away
3%25
9
Middletown21.5 mi away
2%22
10
Branford17.8 mi away
2%21
Everywhere elseother towns and states
53%493
The top trips

Where Westbrook Center 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.

How far

Short hops and long hauls from Westbrook Center

10 mi25 mi40 miWestbrook: 13% · 2.4 miOld Saybrook: 7% · 3.2 miNew Haven: 6% · 25.1 miClinton: 4% · 4.7 miHartford: 3% · 35.7 miMadison: 3% · 10.4 miEssex: 3% · 5 miGuilford: 3% · 14.3 miMiddletown: 2% · 21.5 miBranford: 2% · 17.8 miWestbrook 13%Old Saybrook 7%New Haven 6%Clinton 4%Hartford 3%Westbrook Center
Westbrook CenterTop destinations (size = commuters)
35%Under 10 mi323 residents
23%10–24 mi208 residents
34%25–50 mi318 residents
8%Over 50 mi75 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.

Next door

Next door to Westbrook Center

The biggest share goes to Old Saybrook (7%).

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Westbrook Center21 min
Old Saybrook29 min
Saybrook Manor35 min

Jobs & commute next door

TownWestbrook Center workers thereJobs & incomeWalkabilityCommuteHousehold income
Westbrook Center–——21 min$74,618
Saybrook Manorunder 3%——35 min—
Old Saybrook7%AB+29 min$114,333

Same-state neighbors only. Saybrook Manor: 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 Westbrook Center’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 Westbrook Center: questions

What is the median household income in Westbrook Center?

$74,618 (±$30,082) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Westbrook Center?

6.8%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Westbrook Center?

21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Westbrook Center work?

8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Westbrook (13%, 2 mi), Old Saybrook (7%, 3 mi), New Haven (6%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Westbrook Center without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Westbrook Center, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Westbrook Center

Westbrook Center 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.