Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Lincoln has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income B−: better than 46% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability C: more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns.
Household incomes here are higher than in 74% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 30 minutes each way (Vermont 24, U.S. 26). Only 4% work in Lincoln; the top destination outside it is Middlebury (18%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Lincoln
Lincoln is a place people come home to
There are 93 jobs based in Lincoln, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lincoln has about 980 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Lincoln workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 24 across Vermont. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. 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; with 513 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Lincoln’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Lincoln is better than 46% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Lincoln’s grade up ($96,667, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (4.8%) is left out: Lincoln’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, Lincoln could be anywhere from C to B.
Lincoln quiets down on a workday
On a workday 493 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 73 people come in from elsewhere.
About 980 people are in Lincoln on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.
0.18 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.
About 30 minutes each way, longer than most of Vermont
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lincoln workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 647 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across Vermont: 82% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
18% of working residents work in Middlebury
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Lincoln clocks in
18% of workers
10% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Lincoln makes things: 35% of its jobs are in goods
93 jobs are based in Lincoln. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lincoln’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lincoln, 2013 → 2023: 67 → 93. 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.
Half of Lincoln commutes less than 18 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Most trips from Lincoln start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lincoln is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.2% across Vermont, on an EPA index of 4.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 797 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 0.0 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). 3.3% of Lincoln households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lincoln’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lincoln is 2,300th of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lincoln, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 587 | South Hero VT | 1,726 | $127K | 3.5% | 5.9% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 645 | Dummerston VT | 1,859 | $102K | 4.5% | 1.6% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 666 | Bolton VT | 1,277 | $111K | 2.9% | 1.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,298 | Marion Township IN | 1,108 | $83K | 10.4% | 6.8% | <1% | B− |
| 2,299 | Union Township IN | 1,841 | $83K | 15.0% | 2.2% | 2% | B− |
| 2,300 | Lincoln VT | 1,400 | $97K | 7.5% | 4.8% | 4% | B− |
| 2,301 | Eden VT | 1,291 | $84K | 6.1% | 0.0% | 4% | B− |
| 2,302 | Oriskany NY | 1,329 | $63K | 11.0% | 4.2% | 6% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | 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.
10% of Lincoln works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Bristol (10%). Darker towns draw more of Lincoln’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lincoln workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln | – | B− | C | 30 min | $96,667 |
| Bristol | 10% | B− | A− | 25 min | $74,620 |
| Warren | under 3% | C | B | 19 min | $86,905 |
| Ripton | under 3% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Starksboro | under 3% | B | D | 29 min | $82,188 |
| Granville | under 3% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Fayston | under 3% | B | A− | 29 min | $110,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Ripton and Granville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Lincoln: questions
What is the median household income in Lincoln?
$96,667 (±$17,954) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lincoln?
7.5%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lincoln?
30 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lincoln work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Middlebury (18%, 10 mi), Bristol (10%, 4 mi), Burlington (5%, 31 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lincoln walkable?
Lincoln is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lincoln without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lincoln, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lincoln
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.