Photo: Smallbones · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Townsend have higher incomes than those in 95% of U.S. towns
2.4% of residents are in poverty; Delaware has 10.4%. Jobs and income earn Townsend A; getting around on foot earns it C+. 26% of workers work from home; Delaware has 15%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Townsend stands out on work
Townsend workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 26 across Delaware. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Townsend is a place people come home to
There are 281 jobs based in Townsend, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Townsend has about 1,900 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Townsend works from home
26% of Townsend workers work from home, against 15% across Delaware. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Townsend
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Townsend is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #7 of 37 in Delaware. Household income is its strongest input ($153,000, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Townsend could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
A commute of about 35 minutes in Townsend
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Townsend workers work from home, vs 15% across Delaware. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,198 commuters (the 26% who work from home are left out). Across Delaware: 84% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who commutes out of Townsend, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,299 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 262 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Townsend on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
0.21 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.
14% of working residents work in Middletown
Where Townsend clocks in
14% of workers
8% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Townsend
281 jobs are based in Townsend.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Townsend, 2013 → 2023: 239 → 281. 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 Townsend’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Townsend
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.
In Townsend, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Townsend is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns, #35 of 37 in Delaware. Both inputs place Townsend 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 1,627 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 1.1% of Townsend households have no vehicle (Delaware 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Townsend’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Townsend ranks: 458th of 4,618 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 372 | Greenville DE | 3,713 | $143K | 4.0% | 4.2% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 456 | Rice Township PA | 3,834 | $111K | 6.1% | 1.4% | 3% | A |
| 457 | Addison WI | 3,416 | $113K | 3.7% | 3.7% | 7% | A |
| 458 | Townsend DE | 2,985 | $153K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 1% | A |
| 459 | River Heights UT | 2,253 | $118K | 5.5% | 2.2% | 1% | A |
| 460 | Wood Township IN | 2,978 | $87K | 4.4% | 0.1% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 815 | Dover Base Housing DE | 2,962 | $82K | 2.2% | 12.4% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,122 | Highland Acres DE | 3,752 | $102K | 6.2% | 4.5% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Townsend, the top three, the last and three more from Delaware.
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 Townsend: questions
What is the median household income in Townsend?
$153,000 (±$31,177) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $84,954 across Delaware and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Townsend?
2.4%, against 10.4% across Delaware and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Townsend?
35 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Delaware and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Townsend work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Middletown (14%, 3 mi), Wilmington (8%, 24 mi), New Castle (4%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Townsend walkable?
Townsend is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Townsend without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Townsend, from the people who make the trip.
More of Townsend
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.