Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Grafton works elsewhere
45 jobs are based in Grafton for 590 working residents. For jobs and income Grafton is better than 38% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (D). Hardly any work in Grafton; the top destination outside it is Lebanon (13%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Grafton, in brief
Grafton is a place people come home to
There are 45 jobs based in Grafton, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Grafton has about 870 people in it, 39% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Grafton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 43 minutes each way, against 27 across New Hampshire. Over a year that’s about 330 hours of commuting, 123 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (24 to 36 minutes). Time on the road ↓
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; with 590 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Grafton’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Grafton’s grade up (7.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (4.7%) is left out: Grafton’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, Grafton could be anywhere from D to B.
Who commutes out of Grafton, and who commutes in
On a workday 587 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 42 people come in from elsewhere.
About 870 people are in Grafton on a workday afternoon, 39% 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 2024, primary jobs.
The daily trip from Grafton: about 43 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grafton workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 488 commuters (the 20% 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.
The places Grafton commutes to
Where Grafton clocks in
13% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
Jobs in Grafton: what the 45 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grafton, 2014 → 2024: 31 → 45. 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 Grafton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Grafton goes to work
About 17% 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.
In Grafton, most people drive to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across New Hampshire, on an EPA index of 2.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 609 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). 0.9% of Grafton households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Grafton’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Grafton ranks: 2,821st of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 153 | Newfields NH | 1,775 | $198K | 2.4% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 664 | Mason NH | 1,460 | $111K | 4.7% | 2.7% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 735 | Lyndeborough NH | 1,730 | $117K | 3.7% | 9.8% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,819 | Clyde NC | 1,355 | $56K | 8.2% | 0.4% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,820 | Mendon Township IL | 1,384 | $76K | 10.8% | 3.1% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,821 | Grafton NH | 1,411 | $82K | 7.7% | 4.7% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,822 | Alexandria NH | 1,740 | $89K | 9.7% | 2.5% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,823 | Almond NY | 1,506 | $85K | 10.4% | 2.3% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Grafton, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
The towns around Grafton
The biggest share goes to Canaan (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Grafton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grafton | – | C+ | D | 43 min | $81,563 |
| Springfield | under 3% | B+ | D | 34 min | $100,893 |
| Danbury | under 3% | C− | D | 36 min | $71,685 |
| Orange | under 3% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Enfield | under 3% | B− | B | 24 min | $95,474 |
| Canaan | 3% | C− | B− | 30 min | $81,583 |
Same-state neighbors only. Orange: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Grafton’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 Grafton: questions
What is the median household income in Grafton?
$81,563 (±$22,447) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grafton?
7.7%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grafton?
43 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grafton work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lebanon (13%, 16 mi), Bristol (8%, 13 mi), Concord (7%, 31 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Grafton walkable?
Grafton is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 2.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Grafton without a car?
0% 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 Grafton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grafton
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.