Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Household incomes put Westport near the very top of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 3.2% of residents, next to 10.0% for Connecticut as a whole. Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. For jobs and income Westport is better than 94% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (A).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Westport apart on work
A lot of Westport works from home
42% of Westport workers work from home, against 16% across Connecticut. Time on the road ↓
Westport workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 41 minutes each way, against 27 across Connecticut. Over a year that’s about 314 hours of commuting, 107 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Westport’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Westport is New York City, NY, 44 miles away as the crow flies. 20% of working residents (1,902) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Westport is where the jobs are
Westport has 14,543 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Three in four Westport workers earn over $40,000 a year
77% of Westport’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Westport
Household income is its strongest input ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
The Census reports Westport’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Westport could be anywhere from A to A+.
About 41 minutes to work from Westport
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Westport workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,000 commuters (the 42% 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.
Miles to work from Westport
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.
Westport on a workday afternoon
On a workday 7,891 residents head out to work, 1,558 work right here, and 12,985 people come in from elsewhere.
About 33,000 people are in Westport on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
68% of the jobs in Westport pay over $3,333 a month
14,543 jobs are based in Westport.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Westport, 2013 → 2023: 15,594 → 14,543. 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 Westport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Westport’s workforce comes from
Where Westport clocks in
20% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
In Westport, walking beats the bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 22.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across Connecticut, on an EPA index of 9.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,970 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 25% 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 2.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 73% 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). 1.7% of Westport households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 18% of Westport’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,409 U.S. towns of 20,000 to 38,000, Westport comes 118th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | North Haven CT | 24,799 | $133K | 4.1% | 2.0% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Berlin CT | 20,698 | $114K | 3.4% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Glastonbury CT | 35,503 | $157K | 3.8% | 2.9% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| 117 | Ballwin MO | 30,901 | $125K | 4.8% | 2.9% | 4% | A |
| 118 | Westport CT | 28,301 | $250K | 3.2% | 4.1% | 16% | A |
| 119 | Tewksbury MA | 31,901 | $128K | 3.4% | 3.7% | 9% | A |
| 120 | Dedham MA | 25,731 | $129K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,409 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Westport, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
The towns next door employ 11% of Westport
The biggest share goes to Norwalk (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Westport workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westport | – | A | A | 41 min | $250,000+ |
| Fairfield | 4% | A− | A | 33 min | $172,432 |
| Norwalk | 7% | B+ | A | 27 min | $107,616 |
| Southport | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Weston | under 2% | A | B | 47 min | $250,000+ |
Same-state neighbors only. Southport: 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 Westport’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Westport: questions
What is the median household income in Westport?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Westport?
3.2%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Westport?
41 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 42% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Westport work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (20%, 44 mi), Stamford (9%, 11 mi), Norwalk (7%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Westport walkable?
Westport is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 23% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Westport without a car?
18% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Westport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Westport
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.