Photo: Jared and Corin · CC BY-SA 2.0At 1.7%, unemployment in Fair Haven is lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Fair Haven are C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. 4% of workers work from home; Vermont has 17%. About one in seven stay in Fair Haven for work; outside it, Rutland is the main destination (21%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Fair Haven and work: the main findings
Fair Haven workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 24 across Vermont. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Fair Haven workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 17% across Vermont. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
Where Fair Haven’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fair Haven is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #52 of 71 in Vermont. Unemployment holds Fair Haven’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (18.9%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fair Haven could be anywhere from C− to B.
About 31 minutes to work from Fair Haven
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fair Haven workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,240 commuters (the 4% 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.
Who leaves Fair Haven for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,131 residents head out to work, 165 work right here, and 585 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Fair Haven on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.58 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.
Where Fair Haven goes to work
Where Fair Haven clocks in
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.
Inside Fair Haven’s 750 jobs
750 jobs are based in Fair Haven.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fair Haven, 2013 → 2023: 678 → 750. 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 Fair Haven’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Fair Haven commutes less than 15 miles
About 20% 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.
Fair Haven is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fair Haven is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #37 of 71 in Vermont. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% 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 1,296 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, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 59% 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). 1.2% of Fair Haven households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fair Haven’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Fair Haven is 3,029th among 4,797 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 591 | Norwich VT | 3,577 | $140K | 2.8% | 3.0% | 12% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 794 | East Montpelier VT | 2,594 | $93K | 2.1% | 2.6% | 16% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 950 | Westford VT | 2,072 | $113K | 2.5% | 4.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,027 | Sparta Township IN | 2,959 | $65K | 8.3% | 4.2% | 1% | C |
| 3,028 | Phoenix NY | 2,192 | $59K | 16.1% | 5.7% | 6% | C |
| 3,029 | Fair Haven VT | 2,676 | $62K | 18.9% | 1.7% | 13% | C |
| 3,030 | New Cordell OK | 2,746 | $73K | 10.0% | 4.4% | 30% | C |
| 3,031 | Lebanon VA | 3,075 | $53K | 17.8% | 0.5% | 20% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | 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 Fair Haven, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
Next door is work for 10% of Fair Haven
The biggest share goes to Castleton (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fair Haven workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair Haven | – | C | A− | 31 min | $62,404 |
| West Haven | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Poultney | 2% | C− | B+ | 29 min | $72,617 |
| Castleton | 8% | C | A | 19 min | $73,854 |
| Benson | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. West Haven and Benson: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fair Haven’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 Fair Haven: questions
What is the median household income in Fair Haven?
$62,404 (±$15,631) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fair Haven?
18.9%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fair Haven?
31 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fair Haven work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rutland (21%, 14 mi), Castleton (8%, 5 mi), Rutland (7%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fair Haven walkable?
Fair Haven is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fair Haven without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fair Haven, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fair Haven
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.