Equinox House · Photo: Rolf Müller (User:Rolfmueller) · CC BY-SA 3.0There are 1.7 jobs in Manchester for every working resident, and 2,431 people commute in
About two in five work in Manchester; the top destination outside it is Bennington (6%, 21 miles). 3,166 jobs are based in Manchester for 1,814 working residents. The two grades for Manchester are B− for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Manchester
Commutes from Manchester are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 24 across Vermont. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Vermont worker, and quicker than any town next door (22 to 27 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Manchester is where the jobs are
Manchester has 3,166 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
The biggest group of Manchester’s workers comes from Bennington
237 of the people who work in Manchester live in Bennington, 21 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
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.
Manchester’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Manchester is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #36 of 71 in Vermont. Unemployment holds Manchester’s grade up (2.4%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Manchester could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Time on the road from Manchester: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Manchester workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,733 commuters (the 23% 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.
Manchester on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,079 residents head out to work and 735 work right here.
About 5,800 people are in Manchester on a workday afternoon, 31% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where the people who work in Manchester live
Where Manchester clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
What Manchester’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Manchester, 2014 → 2024: 3,354 → 3,166. 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 Manchester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Manchester
About 17% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: Manchester
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Manchester is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #23 of 71 in Vermont. Both inputs place Manchester near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,253 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 54% 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 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 61% 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). 4.3% of Manchester households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Manchester’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Manchester ranks: 2,209th of 4,000 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% | 3% | 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% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 408 | Richmond VT | 4,103 | $108K | 4.2% | 1.0% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 471 | Charlotte VT | 3,846 | $144K | 3.7% | 1.1% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,207 | Cortland IL | 4,676 | $74K | 7.0% | 8.2% | 2% | B− |
| 2,208 | Washington Township IN | 5,238 | $67K | 9.8% | 2.4% | 21% | B− |
| 2,209 | Manchester VT | 4,413 | $95K | 16.8% | 2.4% | 41% | B− |
| 2,210 | Mulberry FL | 4,573 | $58K | 19.8% | 1.4% | 2% | B− |
| 2,211 | Le Sueur MN | 4,210 | $79K | 12.7% | 4.0% | 29% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,000 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 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 Manchester, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
Manchester and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Dorset (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Manchester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | – | B− | A | 14 min | $94,886 |
| Winhall | 1% | B− | B− | 27 min | $95,500 |
| Dorset | 5% | C+ | A | 22 min | $111,250 |
| Sunderland | under 2% | C+ | C | 23 min | $88,523 |
| Sandgate | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Sandgate: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Manchester’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 Manchester: questions
What is the median household income in Manchester?
$94,886 (±$22,757) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Manchester?
16.8%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Manchester?
14 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Manchester work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bennington (6%, 21 mi), Stratton (5%, 9 mi), Arlington (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Manchester walkable?
Manchester is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Manchester without a car?
<1% 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 Manchester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Manchester
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.