At 1.3%, unemployment in Thornton is lower than in 92% of U.S. towns
Only 6% stay in Thornton for work; outside it, Plymouth is the main destination (15%, 15 miles). The two grades for Thornton are B for jobs and income and C− for walkability. 30% of workers have no commute at all, where New Hampshire as a whole has 17%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Thornton in brief
Thornton’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Thornton is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #93 of 126 in New Hampshire. Unemployment holds Thornton’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Thornton could be anywhere from C to A−.
A commute of about 23 minutes in Thornton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thornton workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,187 commuters (the 30% 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 a workday changes Thornton
On a workday 1,039 residents head out to work, 63 work right here, and 294 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Thornton on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
0.32 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 the trip to work from Thornton ends
Where Thornton clocks in
15% of workers
13% of workers
9% 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.
Thornton is a services town
357 jobs are based in Thornton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thornton, 2013 → 2023: 285 → 357. 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 Thornton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Thornton to work
About 22% 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.
Driving is how Thornton gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Thornton is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns, #102 of 126 in New Hampshire. Both inputs place Thornton near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,691 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). 0.8% of Thornton households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Thornton’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,028th of 4,882: where Thornton ranks among U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 261 | Mont Vernon NH | 2,698 | $158K | 4.4% | 1.5% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 288 | Hampton Falls NH | 2,379 | $166K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 328 | Kensington NH | 2,092 | $165K | 1.9% | 3.6% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,026 | Stanford NY | 3,703 | $89K | 13.8% | 1.3% | 8% | B |
| 2,027 | McQueeney TX | 2,392 | $98K | 13.0% | 5.4% | 2% | B |
| 2,028 | Thornton NH | 2,895 | $90K | 9.2% | 1.3% | 6% | B |
| 2,029 | Smithville-Sanders IN | 3,299 | $75K | 5.6% | 4.4% | 2% | B |
| 2,030 | Roebuck SC | 2,902 | $51K | 11.2% | 1.6% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Thornton, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
14% of Thornton works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Campton (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Thornton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornton | – | B | C− | 23 min | $90,022 |
| Campton | 9% | B+ | C+ | 23 min | $118,870 |
| Woodstock | under 2% | C+ | B | 18 min | $85,667 |
| Waterville Valley | 5% | — | — | 14 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Waterville Valley: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Thornton’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 Thornton: questions
What is the median household income in Thornton?
$90,022 (±$17,243) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thornton?
9.2%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thornton?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thornton work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Plymouth (15%, 15 mi), Lincoln (13%, 10 mi), Campton (9%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Thornton walkable?
Thornton is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Thornton 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 Thornton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thornton
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.