Photo: Mfwills · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Essex Junction (1.9%) is lower than in 86% of U.S. towns
About one in ten stay in Essex Junction for work; outside it, Burlington is the main destination (22%, 6 miles). For jobs and income Essex Junction is better than 76% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (A). The average commute takes 19 minutes each way, where Vermont has 24 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Essex Junction in brief
Most Essex Junction residents work close to home
79% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 7% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Essex Junction makes and builds things
51% of the jobs based in Essex Junction are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Essex Junction residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 14%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Essex Junction works one town over
32% of working residents work in a town that borders Essex Junction: South Burlington (15%), Williston (10%) and Essex (7%). Next door ↓
Most jobs in Essex Junction pay over $40,000 a year
76% of the jobs based in Essex Junction pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Essex Junction 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Essex Junction’s grade explained
Unemployment is its strongest input; the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (9.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Essex Junction could be anywhere from B− to A.
How many miles Essex Junction commutes
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.
51% of the jobs in Essex Junction make or build things
4,839 jobs are based in Essex Junction.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Essex Junction, 2014 → 2024: 6,281 → 4,839. 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 Essex Junction’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 19 minutes in Essex Junction
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Essex Junction workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,494 commuters (the 17% 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 daily commute in and out of Essex Junction
On a workday 5,115 residents head out to work, 643 work right here, and 4,196 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 (0.84 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Essex Junction’s residents
Where Essex Junction clocks in
22% of workers
10% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Essex Junction
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,613 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 80% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 26% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% 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). 6.0% of Essex Junction households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Essex Junction’s commuters take a bus or train.
Essex Junction next to U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000: 895th of 2,507 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 357 | Williston VT | 9,975 | $107K | 4.3% | 1.6% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 492 | Essex VT | 11,346 | $110K | 5.0% | 2.1% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 893 | View Park-Windsor Hills CA | 11,230 | $131K | 7.1% | 8.2% | 3% | A− |
| 894 | Bel Aire KS | 10,287 | $98K | 11.8% | 2.9% | 4% | A− |
| 895 | Essex Junction VT | 10,921 | $89K | 9.5% | 1.9% | 11% | A− |
| 896 | Barrington NH | 9,642 | $110K | 7.1% | 2.1% | 8% | A− |
| 897 | College Township PA | 10,393 | $101K | 7.7% | 2.8% | 34% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,039 | Shelburne VT | 8,133 | $116K | 8.4% | 3.8% | 16% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 19% | 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 Essex Junction, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
The towns next door employ 32% of Essex Junction
The biggest share goes to South Burlington (15%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Essex Junction workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex Junction | – | A− | A | 19 min | $89,257 |
| Williston | 10% | A | B− | 20 min | $106,967 |
| Essex | 7% | A | B+ | 22 min | $110,199 |
| South Burlington | 15% | A− | A | 18 min | $106,667 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Essex Junction’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 Essex Junction: questions
What is the median household income in Essex Junction?
$89,257 (±$16,233) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Essex Junction?
9.5%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Essex Junction?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Essex Junction work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Burlington (22%, 6 mi), South Burlington (15%, 5 mi), Williston (10%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Essex Junction walkable?
Essex Junction is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.7 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Essex Junction without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 26% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Essex Junction, from the people who make the trip.
More of Essex Junction
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.