Photo: Wayne Blanchard (VtWayne at en.wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Bellows Falls (11.7%) than in 97% of U.S. towns
Bellows Falls grades D for jobs and income and A for walkability. 7% of workers work from home (Vermont 17%). Household incomes here are lower than in 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Bellows Falls, in brief
A lot of Bellows Falls works one town over
39% of working residents work in a town that borders Bellows Falls: Rockingham (22%), Westminster (9%) and Walpole (8%). Next door ↓
A lot of Bellows Falls workers cross into New Hampshire
25% of Bellows Falls workers work outside Vermont, most of them in New Hampshire, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
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.
Bellows Falls’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bellows Falls is better than 6% of U.S. towns, #70 of 71 in Vermont. Job access by car holds Bellows Falls’ grade up (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bellows Falls could be anywhere from D− to C+.
22% of working residents work in Rockingham
Where Bellows Falls clocks in
9% 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.
Who leaves Bellows Falls for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,049 residents head out to work, 184 work right here, and 691 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Bellows Falls on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.71 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.
Jobs in Bellows Falls: what the 875 are
875 jobs are based in Bellows Falls.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bellows Falls, 2013 → 2023: 1,035 → 875. 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 Bellows Falls’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Bellows Falls takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bellows Falls workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,231 commuters (the 7% 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.
How far Bellows Falls 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.
Bellows Falls is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bellows Falls is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #14 of 71 in Vermont. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.5% 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 1,322 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, 27% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 69% 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). 22.0% of Bellows Falls households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Bellows Falls’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Bellows Falls compares with U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 614 | Norwich VT | 3,577 | $140K | 2.8% | 3.0% | 12% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 823 | East Montpelier VT | 2,594 | $93K | 2.1% | 2.6% | 16% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 984 | Westford VT | 2,072 | $113K | 2.5% | 4.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,579 | Rayville LA | 3,176 | $27K | 41.1% | 12.2% | 21% | D |
| 4,580 | Tipton MO | 2,766 | $49K | 20.4% | 0.6% | 17% | D |
| 4,581 | Bellows Falls VT | 2,706 | $56K | 25.1% | 11.7% | 15% | D |
| 4,582 | Union Township MO | 2,179 | $54K | 17.2% | 3.9% | 13% | D |
| 4,583 | Texas Township PA | 2,273 | $42K | 20.2% | 4.6% | 11% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | 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 Bellows Falls, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
Bordering towns draw 39% of Bellows Falls’ workers
The biggest share goes to Rockingham (22%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bellows Falls workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellows Falls | – | D | A | 20 min | $56,086 |
| Rockingham | 22% | C− | A | 20 min | $70,857 |
| North Westminster | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Westminster | 9% | C+ | A− | 24 min | $71,491 |
Same-state neighbors only. North Westminster: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bellows Falls’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 Bellows Falls: questions
What is the median household income in Bellows Falls?
$56,086 (±$2,203) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bellows Falls?
25.1%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bellows Falls?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bellows Falls work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockingham (22%, 3 mi), Brattleboro (9%, 21 mi), Westminster (9%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bellows Falls walkable?
Bellows Falls is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bellows Falls without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. 27% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bellows Falls, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bellows Falls
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.