Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Pelham are higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
Only 7% work in Pelham itself; outside it, Nashua draws the most (9%, 8 miles). Below the poverty line: 3.7% of residents, next to 7.2% across New Hampshire. For jobs and income Pelham is better than 92% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (C+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Pelham, in brief
Pelham has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Pelham went from 2,208 in 2013 to 2,981 in 2023, +35%. The jobs ↓
Pelham empties out on a workday
About 10,000 people are in Pelham on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than the 15,000 who live here: 7,200 head out to work and 2,400 come in. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Pelham: the grade in detail
Household income is its strongest input ($135,956, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pelham could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Goods jobs make up 29% of work in Pelham
2,981 jobs are based in Pelham.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pelham, 2013 → 2023: 2,208 → 2,981. 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 Pelham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Pelham
On a workday 7,187 residents head out to work, 570 work right here, and 2,411 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Pelham on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.38 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Pelham work
Where Pelham clocks in
9% 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.
Time on the road from Pelham: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pelham workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,012 commuters (the 23% 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.
How far Pelham 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.
For most of Pelham, work means a drive
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,785 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). 0.6% of Pelham households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Pelham’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Pelham is 321st among 2,362 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 210 | Amherst NH | 11,985 | $153K | 4.4% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 288 | Hooksett NH | 15,346 | $118K | 3.3% | 2.5% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 294 | Goffstown NH | 18,607 | $114K | 6.4% | 0.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 319 | Durham NH | 15,346 | $124K | 15.1% | 4.3% | 18% | A |
| 320 | Barrington Township IL | 16,247 | $184K | 5.3% | 4.2% | 8% | A |
| 321 | Pelham NH | 14,828 | $136K | 3.7% | 3.5% | 7% | A |
| 322 | Warwick Township PA | 19,533 | $104K | 4.9% | 2.2% | 8% | A |
| 323 | Rutherford NJ | 19,132 | $143K | 5.5% | 4.2% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | 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 Pelham, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
Pelham and its neighbors: 11% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Salem. Darker towns draw more of Pelham’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 Pelham: questions
What is the median household income in Pelham?
$135,956 (±$19,099) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pelham?
3.7%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pelham?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pelham work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Nashua (9%, 8 mi), Salem (7%, 7 mi), Manchester (6%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pelham walkable?
Pelham is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pelham without a car?
1% 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 Pelham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pelham
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.