Southwest District School · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Wolcott works elsewhere
2,760 jobs are based in Wolcott for 8,575 working residents. Wolcott grades A for jobs and income and C for walkability. Measured by household income, Wolcott is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Wolcott and work: the main findings
A lot of Wolcott works one town over
26% of working residents work in a town that borders Wolcott: Waterbury (14%), Southington (4%) and Bristol (4%). Next door ↓
Wolcott empties out on a workday
About 11,000 people are in Wolcott on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than the 17,000 who live here: 7,900 head out to work and 2,000 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
The figures behind Wolcott’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wolcott is better than 94% of U.S. towns, #18 of 155 in Connecticut. The poverty rate is its strongest input (1.8%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wolcott could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Who works in Wolcott, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 7,856 residents head out to work, 719 work right here, and 2,041 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Wolcott on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
14% of working residents work in Waterbury
Where Wolcott clocks in
14% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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 kinds of work in Wolcott
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wolcott, 2013 → 2023: 2,490 → 2,760. 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 Wolcott’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 30 minutes from Wolcott
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wolcott workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,202 commuters (the 11% 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.
Half of Wolcott commutes less than 12 miles
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.
Getting around Wolcott: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wolcott is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #126 of 155 in Connecticut. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% 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 9,236 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 11% 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 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 57% 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). 2.0% of Wolcott households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Wolcott’s commuters take a bus or train.
194th of 1,888: where Wolcott ranks among U.S. towns of 12,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Berlin CT | 20,698 | $114K | 3.4% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | Ellington CT | 16,594 | $130K | 2.4% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| 105 | Tolland CT | 14,752 | $133K | 5.3% | 1.2% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 192 | North Smithfield RI | 12,990 | $109K | 4.8% | 2.5% | 9% | A |
| 193 | Fairfax Station VA | 12,566 | $212K | 1.7% | 4.8% | 1% | A |
| 194 | Wolcott CT | 16,573 | $111K | 1.8% | 3.4% | 8% | A |
| 195 | Harrison Township NJ | 14,043 | $166K | 4.8% | 3.4% | 8% | A |
| 196 | Wyckoff Township NJ | 17,224 | $204K | 3.1% | 5.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,888 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Wolcott, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Next door is work for 26% of Wolcott
The biggest share goes to Waterbury (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wolcott workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolcott | – | A | C | 30 min | $110,850 |
| Waterbury | 14% | C− | A | 28 min | $51,886 |
| Southington | 4% | A | C+ | 24 min | $124,309 |
| Bristol | 4% | B− | B+ | 24 min | $79,076 |
| Plymouth | under 3% | A− | C | 29 min | $94,514 |
| Cheshire | 4% | A | A− | 29 min | $146,528 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wolcott’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 Wolcott: questions
What is the median household income in Wolcott?
$110,850 (±$9,536) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wolcott?
1.8%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wolcott?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wolcott work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waterbury (14%, 4 mi), Cheshire (4%, 7 mi), Southington (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wolcott walkable?
Wolcott is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wolcott without a car?
<1% 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 Wolcott, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wolcott
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.