Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Brighton are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Brighton is better than 2% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (A). The poverty rate is 22.0%, against 10.1% across Vermont. About one in four work in Brighton itself; outside it, Newport draws the most (8%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Brighton
Brighton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 24 across Vermont. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Brighton makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Brighton are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Brighton residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 25%. 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; with 375 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Brighton
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Brighton’s grade.
Unemployment (3.9%) is left out: Brighton’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Brighton could be anywhere from D− to C.
The trip to work from Brighton: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brighton workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 410 commuters (the 12% 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.
Brighton works in goods: 40% of its jobs
324 jobs are based in Brighton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brighton, 2013 → 2023: 192 → 324. 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 Brighton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Brighton
On a workday 285 residents head out to work, 90 work right here, and 234 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 (0.86 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.
Where Brighton’s working residents head each day
Where Brighton clocks in
7% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Brighton
About 27% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Brighton
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 468 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 99% 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). 11.7% of Brighton households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brighton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Brighton sits among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 529 | Bolton VT | 1,277 | $111K | 2.9% | 1.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 679 | Cornwall VT | 1,290 | $115K | 0.8% | 7.4% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 873 | West Windsor VT | 1,355 | $109K | 3.7% | 3.4% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,666 | Marion Township MI | 1,603 | $44K | 21.6% | 8.0% | 10% | D− |
| 4,667 | Benton Township OH | 1,576 | $33K | 19.1% | 0.0% | <1% | D− |
| 4,668 | Brighton VT | 1,251 | $47K | 22.0% | 3.9% | 24% | D− |
| 4,669 | Midway AR | 1,279 | $31K | 30.8% | 0.0% | 2% | D− |
| 4,670 | Cypress Quarters FL | 1,697 | $38K | 35.0% | 2.5% | 2% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Brighton, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
Brighton and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brighton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton | – | D− | A | 33 min | $47,375 |
| Charleston | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Newark | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Morgan | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Charleston, Newark and Morgan: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Brighton’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 Brighton: questions
What is the median household income in Brighton?
$47,375 (±$21,292) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brighton?
22.0%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brighton?
33 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brighton work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Newport (8%, 19 mi), St. Johnsbury (7%, 24 mi), Derby (6%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brighton walkable?
Brighton is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.8 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brighton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brighton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brighton
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.