Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Keene (2.0%) than in 85% of U.S. towns
About half stay in Keene for work; outside it, Swanzey is the main destination (4%, 7 miles). Keene grades B for jobs and income and A for walkability. Working residents average 17 minutes each way, where New Hampshire has 27 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Keene stands out on work
Commutes from Keene are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 27 across New Hampshire. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Hampshire worker, and quicker than any town next door (21 to 32 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Keene gains people on a workday
About 28,000 people are in Keene on a workday afternoon, 21% more than the 23,000 who live here: 11,000 come in to work and 5,700 head out. Day and night ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Keene’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Keene is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #76 of 126 in New Hampshire. Unemployment holds Keene’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (10.1%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Keene could be anywhere from B− to A−.
About 17 minutes each way for Keene’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Keene workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,944 commuters (the 16% 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.
Who commutes out of Keene, and who commutes in
On a workday 5,727 residents head out to work, 4,690 work right here, and 10,668 people come in from elsewhere.
About 28,000 people are in Keene on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Keene goes to work
Where Keene clocks in
4% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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.
The kinds of work in Keene
15,358 jobs are based in Keene.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Keene, 2013 → 2023: 16,800 → 15,358. 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 Keene’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Keene commutes
About 15% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Keene 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, Keene is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #6 of 126 in New Hampshire. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across New Hampshire, on an EPA index of 8.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,788 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). 7.0% of Keene households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Keene’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,712 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 31,000, Keene comes 911th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Bedford NH | 23,973 | $167K | 2.7% | 1.7% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Merrimack NH | 29,699 | $127K | 3.0% | 1.9% | 17% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 197 | Goffstown NH | 18,607 | $114K | 6.4% | 0.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 909 | Rio Linda CA | 16,335 | $96K | 14.4% | 4.4% | 6% | B |
| 910 | Star ID | 20,874 | $98K | 5.8% | 6.9% | 6% | B |
| 911 | Keene NH | 23,072 | $78K | 10.1% | 2.0% | 45% | B |
| 912 | Fairhaven MA | 16,110 | $96K | 8.3% | 5.6% | 14% | B |
| 913 | Johnston RI | 30,494 | $92K | 7.9% | 7.4% | 11% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,712 | 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 Keene, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
Next door to Keene
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Keene workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keene | – | B | A | 17 min | $78,445 |
| Roxbury | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Swanzey | 4% | B | C+ | 24 min | $81,595 |
| Westmoreland | 2% | B+ | C | 23 min | $104,444 |
| Sullivan | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Surry | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Gilsum | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Marlborough | under 2% | B− | B | 21 min | $69,032 |
Same-state neighbors only. Roxbury, Sullivan and Gilsum: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Surry: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Swanzey. Darker towns draw more of Keene’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 Keene: questions
What is the median household income in Keene?
$78,445 (±$8,109) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Keene?
10.1%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Keene?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Keene work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Swanzey (4%, 7 mi), Brattleboro (3%, 18 mi), Lebanon (3%, 47 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Keene walkable?
Keene is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Keene without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Keene, from the people who make the trip.
More of Keene
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.