Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Windham have lower incomes than those in 80% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.6 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 31.8 in Stamford. 20.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.0% across Connecticut. The two grades for Windham are C− for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Windham and work: the main findings
Why Windham gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Windham is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #149 of 155 in Connecticut. Job access by car holds Windham’s grade up (ahead of 69% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Windham could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Who commutes out of Windham, and who commutes in
On a workday 7,331 residents head out to work, 2,145 work right here, and 6,580 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 (0.92 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.
9% of working residents work in Mansfield
Where Windham clocks in
9% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
The 8,725 jobs based in Windham
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Windham, 2013 → 2023: 8,988 → 8,725. 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 Windham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Windham, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Windham workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,010 commuters (the 6% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Windham
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.
Windham is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Windham is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #19 of 155 in Connecticut. Both inputs place Windham near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,663 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 58% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% 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). 12.3% of Windham households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Windham’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000, Windham ranks 1,430th of 1,642 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 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | North Haven CT | 24,799 | $133K | 4.1% | 2.0% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Berlin CT | 20,698 | $114K | 3.4% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | South Windsor CT | 27,036 | $145K | 4.9% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,428 | Terrytown LA | 24,726 | $52K | 19.2% | 8.4% | 4% | C |
| 1,429 | Orange TX | 19,419 | $63K | 15.4% | 7.7% | 19% | C− |
| 1,430 | Windham CT | 24,139 | $56K | 20.7% | 5.8% | 23% | C− |
| 1,431 | Newburgh NY | 28,059 | $57K | 24.3% | 6.1% | 13% | C− |
| 1,432 | El Reno OK | 20,730 | $56K | 19.3% | 6.1% | 28% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Windham, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Bordering towns draw 11% of Windham’s workers
The biggest share goes to Mansfield (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Windham workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windham | – | C− | A | 24 min | $55,736 |
| Mansfield | 9% | A− | A | 21 min | $72,393 |
| Coventry | under 2% | A | C− | 27 min | $108,213 |
| Lebanon | 2% | A | D | 31 min | $109,135 |
| Franklin | under 2% | B | B− | 27 min | $105,000 |
| Columbia | under 2% | B+ | C− | 32 min | $127,000 |
| Scotland | under 2% | A− | C− | 33 min | $99,881 |
| Mansfield Center | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Chaplin | under 2% | A− | C− | 32 min | $97,846 |
Same-state neighbors only. Mansfield Center: 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 Windham’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 Windham: questions
What is the median household income in Windham?
$55,736 (±$4,979) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Windham?
20.7%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Windham?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Windham work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mansfield (9%, 6 mi), Norwich (4%, 12 mi), Hartford (3%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Windham walkable?
Windham is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Windham without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Windham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Windham
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.