Socialist Labor Party Hall · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Barre earn less than those in 65% of U.S. towns
For 10% of workers, the job is at home, next to 17% for Vermont as a whole. 17.3% of residents live below the poverty line (Vermont 10.1%). Jobs and income earn Barre C; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Barre stands out on work
Barre trades workers with the towns around it
Barre has about as many jobs (4,631) as working residents (4,042), but they are mostly different people: 3,174 residents leave for work each day while 3,763 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Barre are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Barre are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Vermont. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Vermont worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Barre
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Barre is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #57 of 71 in Vermont. Unemployment holds Barre’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Barre could be anywhere from D to B.
How many people are in Barre by day
On a workday 3,174 residents head out to work, 868 work right here, and 3,763 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.15 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.
A commute of about 19 minutes in Barre
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Barre workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,128 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Vermont: 82% 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.
14% of working residents work in Berlin
Where Barre clocks in
14% of workers
12% of workers
4% 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.
69% of the jobs in Barre pay over $3,333 a month
4,631 jobs are based in Barre.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Barre, 2013 → 2023: 3,998 → 4,631. 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 Barre’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Barre, by distance
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.
Barre 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, Barre is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #9 of 71 in Vermont. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.2% across Vermont.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,613 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 33% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 13.6% of Barre households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Barre’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Barre is 2,317th among 3,034 U.S. towns of 5,700 to 11,100
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 378 | Williston VT | 9,975 | $107K | 4.3% | 1.6% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 954 | Essex Junction VT | 10,921 | $89K | 9.5% | 1.9% | 11% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,160 | Shelburne VT | 8,133 | $116K | 8.4% | 3.8% | 15% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,315 | De Soto MO | 6,527 | $53K | 13.1% | 4.4% | 13% | C |
| 2,316 | Warrenton MO | 9,667 | $61K | 14.6% | 4.7% | 11% | C |
| 2,317 | Barre VT | 8,214 | $66K | 17.3% | 4.5% | 21% | C |
| 2,318 | West Vero Corridor FL | 10,461 | $62K | 10.8% | 5.7% | 5% | C |
| 2,319 | Mount Healthy OH | 6,917 | $55K | 21.0% | 5.9% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,034 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Barre, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
The towns next door employ 14% of Barre
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Barre workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barre | – | C | A | 19 min | $65,625 |
| South Barre | under 3% | — | — | 15 min | — |
| Berlin | 14% | B | C+ | 21 min | $86,691 |
Same-state neighbors only. South Barre: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Berlin. Darker towns draw more of Barre’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 Barre: questions
What is the median household income in Barre?
$65,625 (±$6,517) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Barre?
17.3%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Barre?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Barre work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Berlin (14%, 5 mi), Montpelier (12%, 6 mi), Burlington (4%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Barre walkable?
Barre is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.8 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Barre without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. 33% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Barre, from the people who make the trip.
More of Barre
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.