Old Christ Church · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0At 1.8%, unemployment in Bethel is lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
7% of workers work from home, next to 17% for Vermont as a whole. The two grades for Bethel are B− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in seven work in Bethel; the top destination outside it is Randolph (11%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Bethel stands out on work
Bethel makes and builds things
59% of the jobs based in Bethel are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Bethel residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Bethel works one town over
28% of working residents work in a town that borders Bethel: Randolph (11%), Rochester (9%) and Royalton (8%). Next door ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 865 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Bethel’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bethel is better than 52% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Bethel’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 6% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bethel could be anywhere from C to B+.
Making and building: 59% of jobs based in Bethel
572 jobs are based in Bethel.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bethel, 2014 → 2024: 670 → 572. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bethel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Bethel: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 761 residents head out to work, 104 work right here, and 468 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Bethel on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.66 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 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Bethel: the destinations
Where Bethel clocks in
11% of workers
9% of workers
8% 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.
The daily trip from Bethel: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bethel workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 926 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.
The distance from Bethel to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Bethel walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bethel is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Bethel 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 997 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 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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). 3.5% of Bethel households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bethel’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bethel places 2,116th of 5,656 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 703 | South Hero VT | 1,726 | $127K | 3.5% | 5.9% | 11% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 770 | Dummerston VT | 1,859 | $102K | 4.5% | 1.6% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 889 | Westford VT | 2,072 | $113K | 2.5% | 4.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,114 | Haven Township KS | 1,555 | $60K | 6.9% | 3.8% | 9% | B− |
| 2,115 | Springfield Township PA | 1,822 | $77K | 11.5% | 3.9% | 8% | B− |
| 2,116 | Bethel VT | 1,887 | $76K | 8.2% | 1.8% | 12% | B− |
| 2,117 | Duquesne MO | 2,345 | $54K | 14.2% | 1.0% | 3% | B− |
| 2,118 | Blanco TX | 2,108 | $71K | 10.4% | 2.2% | 15% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Bethel, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
Bethel and its neighbors: 28% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bethel workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethel | – | B− | C+ | 28 min | $75,822 |
| Royalton | 8% | B | A− | 20 min | $103,938 |
| Rochester | 9% | D | A− | 27 min | $72,676 |
| Randolph | 11% | B | A | 21 min | $76,758 |
| Tunbridge | under 3% | C | C− | 31 min | $89,464 |
| Braintree | under 3% | C | C | 26 min | $79,803 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Randolph. Darker towns draw more of Bethel’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 2024, 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 Bethel: questions
What is the median household income in Bethel?
$75,822 (±$7,137) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bethel?
8.2%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bethel?
28 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bethel work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Randolph (11%, 6 mi), Rochester (9%, 7 mi), Royalton (8%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Bethel walkable?
Bethel is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bethel without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bethel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bethel
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.