Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Alstead has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
Only 3% work in Alstead; the top destination outside it is Keene (27%, 10 miles). Employers in Alstead report 272 jobs for 878 working residents. Alstead grades C for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Alstead, in brief
Alstead and Keene trade workers both ways
Keene is the top workplace for Alstead residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Alstead come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Alstead workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 27 across New Hampshire. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. 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; with 878 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Alstead’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Alstead is better than 30% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Alstead’s grade up (8.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.0%) is left out: Alstead’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Alstead could be anywhere from D to B−.
Where people from Alstead work
Where Alstead clocks in
27% of workers
5% 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.
A commute of about 32 minutes in Alstead
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alstead workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 622 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across New Hampshire: 87% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Alstead by day and by night
On a workday 852 residents head out to work, 26 work right here, and 246 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Alstead on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
In Alstead, 29% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alstead, 2013 → 2023: 221 → 272. 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 Alstead’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Alstead
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.
Alstead is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Alstead is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Alstead 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 708 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 13.9% of Alstead households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Alstead’s commuters take a bus or train.
Alstead places 3,595th of 5,921 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 181 | Newfields NH | 1,775 | $198K | 2.4% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 267 | Hampton Falls NH | 2,379 | $166K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 299 | Kensington NH | 2,092 | $165K | 1.9% | 3.6% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,593 | Union OR | 2,118 | $65K | 18.9% | 1.7% | 8% | C |
| 3,594 | Enfield ME | 1,444 | $63K | 6.8% | 0.0% | 9% | C |
| 3,595 | Alstead NH | 1,928 | $65K | 8.9% | 3.0% | 3% | C |
| 3,596 | Ephratah NY | 1,645 | $81K | 11.5% | 2.1% | 2% | C |
| 3,597 | Pike Township OH | 1,723 | $69K | 9.9% | 0.0% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Alstead, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
Work in the towns next to Alstead
The biggest share goes to Walpole (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alstead workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alstead | – | C | D | 32 min | $64,526 |
| Gilsum | 3% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Marlow | under 3% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Langdon | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Walpole | 5% | B | C− | 23 min | $82,617 |
| Surry | under 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Acworth | under 3% | — | — | 35 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Gilsum, Marlow, Langdon and Acworth: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Surry: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Alstead’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 Alstead: questions
What is the median household income in Alstead?
$64,526 (±$11,370) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alstead?
8.9%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alstead?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alstead work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Keene (27%, 10 mi), Walpole (5%, 5 mi), Lebanon (4%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alstead walkable?
Alstead is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alstead without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alstead, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alstead
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.