Christiana Historic District · Photo: Smallbones · Public domainBrookside has 0.6 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income B−: better than 46% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #27 of 37 in Delaware.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns · #14 of 37 in Delaware.
Household incomes here are higher than in 54% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 25 minutes each way (Delaware 26, U.S. 26). Only 3% work in Brookside; the top destination outside it is Wilmington (9%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Brookside, in brief
What’s behind Brookside’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brookside is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #27 of 37 in Delaware. Job access by car holds Brookside’s grade up (ahead of 81% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brookside could be anywhere from C to B+.
Half of Brookside 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.
Brookside quiets down on a workday
On a workday 6,431 residents head out to work, 228 work right here, and 4,002 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Brookside on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.64 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
9% of working residents work in Wilmington
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Brookside clocks in
9% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 4,230 jobs in Brookside are
4,230 jobs are based in Brookside. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Brookside’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brookside, 2013 → 2023: 4,040 → 4,230. 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.
About 25 minutes each way, about the DE average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brookside workers work from home, vs 15% across Delaware. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,658 commuters (the 15% who work from home are left out). Across Delaware: 84% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Brookside is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brookside is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #14 of 37 in Delaware. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.9% across Delaware.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,790 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 79% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 4% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 8.3% of Brookside households have no vehicle (Delaware 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Brookside’s commuters take a bus or train.
Brookside is 1,311th of 1,969 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 20,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Brookside, the top three, the last and three more from Delaware.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Hockessin DE | 13,439 | $171K | 1.5% | 2.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 869 | Pike Creek Valley DE | 12,431 | $102K | 6.2% | 6.2% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 954 | Glasgow DE | 15,546 | $114K | 8.0% | 6.6% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,309 | Walnut Park CA | 14,958 | $80K | 17.1% | 7.8% | 2% | B− |
| 1,310 | Yankton SD | 15,816 | $68K | 14.1% | 2.0% | 61% | B− |
| 1,311 | Brookside DE | 15,115 | $78K | 14.6% | 6.1% | 3% | B− |
| 1,312 | Owego NY | 18,745 | $86K | 13.6% | 4.4% | 21% | B− |
| 1,313 | Marshfield WI | 18,980 | $58K | 11.6% | 2.8% | 51% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,969 | 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.
Brookside and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Newark (6%). Darker towns draw more of Brookside’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 Brookside: questions
What is the median household income in Brookside?
$78,328 (±$11,997) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $84,954 across Delaware and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brookside?
14.6%, against 10.4% across Delaware and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brookside?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Delaware and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brookside work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilmington (9%, 10 mi), Newark (6%, 3 mi), New Castle (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brookside walkable?
Brookside is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brookside without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 4% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brookside, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brookside
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.