Photo: redjar · CC BY-SA 2.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Leicester works elsewhere
Leicester has 245 jobs, and 495 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Leicester are C for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Only 3% work in Leicester; the top destination outside it is Middlebury (32%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Leicester, in brief
One in three of Leicester works in Middlebury
159 working residents, 32%, have their main job in Middlebury, 8.9 miles away. That’s 11 times as many as work in Leicester itself. The commute map ↓
A longer commute than the towns next door
Leicester averages 28 minutes each way, more than any bordering town (19 to 24 minutes). Next door ↓
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 495 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Leicester’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Leicester is better than 26% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Leicester’s grade up ($70,417, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.8%) is left out: Leicester’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Leicester could be anywhere from D− to B+.
Commuting out of Leicester: the destinations
Where Leicester clocks in
32% of workers
5% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Leicester
On a workday 481 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 231 people come in from elsewhere.
About 770 people are in Leicester on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Leicester, 2013 → 2023: 67 → 245. 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 Leicester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Leicester: 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 Leicester workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 528 commuters (the 13% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Leicester
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.
Most of Leicester commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Leicester is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.2% across Vermont, on an EPA index of 4.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 605 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 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 62% 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). 3.7% of Leicester households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Leicester’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Leicester is 1,903rd of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 307 | Bolton VT | 1,277 | $111K | 2.9% | 1.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 405 | Cornwall VT | 1,290 | $115K | 0.8% | 7.4% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 523 | West Windsor VT | 1,355 | $109K | 3.7% | 3.4% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,901 | North Charleroi PA | 1,283 | $51K | 20.2% | 7.7% | 2% | C |
| 1,902 | Wysox Township IL | 1,296 | $67K | 12.1% | 4.7% | 8% | C |
| 1,903 | Leicester VT | 1,023 | $70K | 11.8% | 3.8% | 3% | C |
| 1,904 | Smyrna Township IN | 1,090 | $71K | 12.7% | 5.2% | <1% | C |
| 1,905 | Shamrock Township MN | 1,271 | $71K | 8.9% | 4.7% | 14% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Leicester, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
The towns around Leicester
The biggest share goes to Brandon (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Leicester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leicester | – | C | C+ | 28 min | $70,417 |
| Whiting | under 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Goshen | under 3% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Brandon | 5% | C+ | B | 24 min | $64,180 |
| Salisbury | 4% | B | B | 19 min | $99,688 |
Same-state neighbors only. Whiting and Goshen: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Leicester’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 Leicester: questions
What is the median household income in Leicester?
$70,417 (±$30,423) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Leicester?
11.8%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Leicester?
28 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Leicester work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Middlebury (32%, 9 mi), Rutland (5%, 19 mi), Brandon (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Leicester walkable?
Leicester is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Leicester without a car?
2% 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 Leicester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Leicester
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.