Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Derby (8.5%) than in 90% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 11% of workers (Vermont 17%). Derby grades C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Measured by household income, Derby is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Derby: the figures worth knowing
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Derby’s working residents have a job less than 6 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 32 minutes, longer than the Vermont average of 24. Time on the road ↓
Derby and Newport trade workers both ways
Newport is the top workplace for Derby residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in Derby come from (12% of its jobs). 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.
The four measures behind Derby’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Derby is better than 29% of U.S. towns, #59 of 71 in Vermont. The poverty rate holds Derby’s grade up (7.4%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Derby could be anywhere from C− to B.
A commute of about 32 minutes in Derby
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Derby workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,982 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.
29% of working residents work in Newport
Where Derby clocks in
4% of workers
2% 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 flow of workers through Derby
On a workday 1,453 residents head out to work, 542 work right here, and 1,864 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 (1.21 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.
What Derby’s employers do
2,406 jobs are based in Derby.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Derby, 2013 → 2023: 1,893 → 2,406. 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 Derby’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Derby
About 23% 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.
In Derby, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Derby is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #48 of 71 in Vermont. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.5% 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 2,217 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 21% 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). 5.5% of Derby households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Derby’s commuters take a bus or train.
Derby places 2,947th of 4,000 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 345 | Jericho VT | 5,056 | $117K | 0.9% | 1.2% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 408 | Richmond VT | 4,103 | $108K | 4.2% | 1.0% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 471 | Charlotte VT | 3,846 | $144K | 3.7% | 1.1% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,945 | Orange VA | 5,365 | $76K | 14.1% | 6.7% | 21% | C |
| 2,946 | Tupper Lake NY | 5,056 | $65K | 17.4% | 2.1% | 40% | C |
| 2,947 | Derby VT | 4,456 | $80K | 7.4% | 8.5% | 27% | C |
| 2,948 | Shenandoah Farms VA | 4,179 | $99K | 21.0% | 5.2% | 1% | C |
| 2,949 | Iuka MS | 3,105 | $49K | 19.6% | 1.5% | 21% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,000 | 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 Derby, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
Bordering towns draw 29% of Derby’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Derby workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derby | – | C | B+ | 32 min | $80,250 |
| Newport | 29% | D− | A | 15 min | $54,646 |
| Charleston | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Holland | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Newport | under 2% | C | C | 24 min | $71,202 |
| Brownington | under 2% | D | D | 33 min | $75,556 |
| Coventry | under 2% | D | C− | 36 min | $59,342 |
Same-state neighbors only. Charleston and Holland: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Newport. Darker towns draw more of Derby’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 Derby: questions
What is the median household income in Derby?
$80,250 (±$7,555) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Derby?
7.4%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Derby?
32 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Derby work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Newport (29%, 4 mi), Barton (4%, 13 mi), Burlington (2%, 63 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Derby walkable?
Derby is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Derby without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Derby, from the people who make the trip.
More of Derby
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.