Photo: Fletcher6 · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Wakefield commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
800 jobs are based in Wakefield for 2,142 working residents. Wakefield grades B for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Measured by household income, Wakefield is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Wakefield at work: what stands out
Wakefield workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 27 across New Hampshire. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Wakefield
65% of Wakefield residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 46% of the jobs based in Wakefield pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 87% leave town for their job. 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.
Inside Wakefield’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wakefield is better than 63% of U.S. towns, #78 of 126 in New Hampshire. Unemployment holds Wakefield’s grade up (2.3%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% 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, Wakefield could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
How long Wakefield spends getting to work: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wakefield workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,597 commuters (the 15% 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.
What Wakefield’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wakefield, 2013 → 2023: 719 → 800. 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 Wakefield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Wakefield by day and by night
On a workday 1,871 residents head out to work, 271 work right here, and 529 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,200 people are in Wakefield on a workday afternoon, 24% 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 2023, primary jobs.
10% of working residents work in Rochester
Where Wakefield clocks in
10% of workers
8% 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.
Wakefield’s commute, mile by mile
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Wakefield walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wakefield is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns, #117 of 126 in New Hampshire. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.6% across New Hampshire.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,059 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). 1.5% of Wakefield households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wakefield’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Wakefield ranks: 1,462nd of 3,502 U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Auburn NH | 6,336 | $153K | 2.5% | 1.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 146 | Brookline NH | 5,858 | $171K | 0.6% | 0.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 166 | North Hampton NH | 4,526 | $146K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,460 | Rock Valley IA | 4,188 | $76K | 9.3% | 0.4% | 36% | B |
| 1,461 | Kankakee Township IN | 4,743 | $109K | 9.0% | 5.2% | 9% | B |
| 1,462 | Wakefield NH | 5,558 | $101K | 7.2% | 2.3% | 13% | B |
| 1,463 | Maeser UT | 4,435 | $84K | 7.7% | 0.9% | 4% | B |
| 1,464 | Locust NC | 6,120 | $77K | 8.7% | 3.6% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,502 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Wakefield, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
The towns around Wakefield
The biggest share goes to Ossipee (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wakefield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wakefield | – | B | C− | 36 min | $100,976 |
| Brookfield | under 3% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Effingham | under 3% | C | D | 32 min | $76,607 |
| Milton | 2% | B | D | 33 min | $94,493 |
| Ossipee | 4% | B | C | 33 min | $90,521 |
| Middleton | under 3% | B | D | 39 min | $101,696 |
Same-state neighbors only. Brookfield: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wakefield’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 Wakefield: questions
What is the median household income in Wakefield?
$100,976 (±$11,069) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wakefield?
7.2%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wakefield?
36 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wakefield work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rochester (10%, 21 mi), Wolfeboro (8%, 8 mi), Dover (6%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wakefield walkable?
Wakefield is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wakefield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wakefield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wakefield
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.