Photo: AcrossTheAtlantic · CC BY-SA 4.0Durham has higher family incomes than 95% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Durham A; getting around on foot earns it A−. Leaving out college students, 2.6% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 7.0% for New Hampshire as a whole. About one in five stay in Durham for work; outside it, Portsmouth is the main destination (12%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Durham at work: what stands out
Nearly all the work in Durham is services
95% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Durham is where the jobs are
Durham has 6,570 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Durham are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 27 across New Hampshire. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Hampshire worker, and quicker than any town next door (23 to 28 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Durham pay over $40,000 a year
73% of the jobs based in Durham pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
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 Durham
On family income, poverty and job access, Durham is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #16 of 126 in New Hampshire. Family income is its strongest input ($176,806, U.S. $99,999); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
55% of Durham’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (20% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 2.6%, against 15.1% for all residents. Unemployment (4.3%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($176,806), since student households pull the household median down ($124,056).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Durham could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Durham
6,570 jobs are based in Durham.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Durham, 2013 → 2023: 5,810 → 6,570. 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 Durham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Durham, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 3,121 residents head out to work, 699 work right here, and 5,871 people come in from elsewhere.
About 18,000 people are in Durham on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
How long Durham spends getting to work: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Durham workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,956 commuters (the 19% 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 Durham’s workforce comes from
Where Durham clocks in
12% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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.
How far Durham goes to work
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.
Durham 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, Durham is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #9 of 126 in New Hampshire. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 31.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across New Hampshire, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,146 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.1% of Durham households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Durham’s commuters take a bus or train.
Durham places 293rd of 2,109 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 192 | Amherst NH | 11,985 | $153K | 4.4% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 266 | Hooksett NH | 15,346 | $118K | 3.3% | 2.5% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 272 | Goffstown NH | 18,607 | $114K | 6.4% | 0.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 291 | Louisville CO | 20,581 | $147K | 4.5% | 3.6% | 11% | A |
| 292 | Holliston MA | 15,206 | $160K | 3.1% | 4.4% | 9% | A |
| 293 | Durham NH | 15,346 | $124K | 15.1% | 4.3% | 18% | A |
| 294 | Barrington Township IL | 16,247 | $184K | 5.3% | 4.2% | 8% | A |
| 295 | Pelham NH | 14,828 | $136K | 3.7% | 3.5% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | 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 Durham, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
Durham and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Newington (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Durham workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durham | – | A | A− | 19 min | $124,056 |
| Newington | 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Madbury | under 2% | A | C+ | 25 min | $148,365 |
| Newmarket | under 2% | A | B− | 28 min | $100,845 |
| Lee | under 2% | A | B− | 28 min | $131,579 |
Same-state neighbors only. Newington: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Durham’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.
- Students. 55% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Durham: questions
What is the median household income in Durham?
$124,056 (±$21,086) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Durham?
15.1% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 2.6%. New Hampshire: 7.2%.
How long is the commute from Durham?
19 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Durham work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portsmouth (12%, 8 mi), Manchester (6%, 28 mi), Dover (6%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Durham walkable?
Durham is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 32% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Durham without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Durham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Durham
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.