Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Canaan (9.6%) is higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 30 minutes on average, next to 27 for New Hampshire and 26 for the U.S. For jobs and income Canaan is better than 17% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (B−). About one in seven work in Canaan itself; outside it, Lebanon draws the most (33%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Canaan
One in three of Canaan works in Lebanon
628 working residents, 33%, have their main job in Lebanon, 11 miles away. That’s twice as many as work in Canaan itself. The commute map ↓
Canaan empties out on a workday
About 2,500 people are in Canaan on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than the 3,800 who live here: 1,600 head out to work and 360 come in. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Where Canaan’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Household income holds Canaan’s grade up ($81,583, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Canaan could be anywhere from D to C.
Where Canaan’s working residents head each day
Where Canaan clocks in
33% of workers
13% of workers
5% 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.
In and out of Canaan on a workday
On a workday 1,641 residents head out to work, 269 work right here, and 357 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Canaan on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
0.33 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 2024, primary jobs.
66% of the jobs in Canaan pay over $3,333 a month
626 jobs are based in Canaan.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Canaan, 2014 → 2024: 671 → 626. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Canaan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Canaan takes about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Canaan workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,657 commuters (the 15% 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.
Where in the region Canaan works
About 16% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Canaan is a driving town
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across New Hampshire, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,947 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 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 54% 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). 5.3% of Canaan households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Canaan’s commuters take a bus or train.
Canaan next to U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200: 3,614th of 4,264 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 157 | North Hampton NH | 4,526 | $146K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 219 | Greenland NH | 4,143 | $163K | 0.5% | 2.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 275 | Brentwood NH | 4,923 | $166K | 3.3% | 2.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,612 | Richland Center WI | 5,020 | $52K | 16.0% | 4.6% | 37% | C− |
| 3,613 | Wright Township IN | 3,567 | $54K | 8.7% | 6.9% | 10% | C− |
| 3,614 | Canaan NH | 3,833 | $82K | 13.6% | 9.6% | 14% | C− |
| 3,615 | Ester AK | 2,752 | $53K | 11.9% | 5.5% | — | C− |
| 3,616 | Valley Grande AL | 3,903 | $59K | 25.3% | 3.9% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Canaan, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
Bordering towns draw 18% of Canaan’s workers
The biggest share goes to Hanover (13%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Canaan workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canaan | – | C− | B− | 30 min | $81,583 |
| Dorchester | under 1% | — | — | 40 min | — |
| Enfield | 5% | B− | B | 24 min | $95,474 |
| Orange | under 1% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Hanover | 13% | B | A+ | 20 min | $169,583 |
| Grafton | under 1% | C+ | D | 43 min | $81,563 |
| Groton | under 1% | — | — | 29 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Dorchester, Orange and Groton: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Canaan’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 2024, 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 Canaan: questions
What is the median household income in Canaan?
$81,583 (±$6,298) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Canaan?
13.6%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Canaan?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Canaan work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lebanon (33%, 11 mi), Hanover (13%, 7 mi), Enfield (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Canaan walkable?
Canaan is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Canaan without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Canaan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Canaan
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.