Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Middlesex are higher than in 83% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Middlesex A−; getting around on foot earns it B−. 3.8% of residents live below the poverty line, where Vermont as a whole has 10.1%. Working from home is the commute for 28% of workers (Vermont 17%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Middlesex at work: what stands out
A lot of Middlesex works one town over
35% of working residents work in a town that borders Middlesex: Montpelier (17%), Berlin (9%) and East Montpelier (6%). Next door ↓
Middlesex has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Middlesex went from 378 in 2013 to 622 in 2023, +65%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Middlesex works from home
28% of Middlesex workers work from home, against 17% across Vermont. 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 773 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Middlesex
On income, poverty and job access, Middlesex is better than 76% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Middlesex’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 30% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (3.0%) is left out: Middlesex’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, Middlesex could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
Middlesex works in goods: 34% of its jobs
622 jobs are based in Middlesex.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Middlesex, 2013 → 2023: 378 → 622. 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 Middlesex’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Middlesex: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Middlesex workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 676 commuters (the 28% 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, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 736 residents head out to work, 37 work right here, and 585 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 (0.80 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
17% of working residents work in Montpelier
Where Middlesex clocks in
17% of workers
9% of workers
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.
Middlesex’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Getting around Middlesex: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Middlesex is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.2% across Vermont, on an EPA index of 6.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 944 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 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 53% 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). 0.8% of Middlesex households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Middlesex’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,656 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500, Middlesex comes 904th on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 703 | South Hero VT | 1,726 | $127K | 3.5% | 5.9% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 770 | Dummerston VT | 1,859 | $102K | 4.5% | 1.6% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 889 | Westford VT | 2,072 | $113K | 2.5% | 4.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 902 | Virginia Gardens FL | 2,307 | $70K | 6.4% | 3.7% | 2% | A− |
| 903 | Chapel Hill TN | 1,905 | $75K | 4.1% | 2.0% | 4% | A− |
| 904 | Middlesex VT | 1,842 | $110K | 3.8% | 3.0% | 5% | A− |
| 905 | Centerville CA | 1,954 | $123K | 4.3% | 5.6% | 3% | A− |
| 906 | Salt Creek Commons IN | 1,843 | $94K | 8.4% | 5.8% | <1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Middlesex, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
Work next door: 35% of Middlesex’s workers
The biggest share goes to Montpelier (17%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Middlesex workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex | – | A− | B− | 27 min | $109,632 |
| Moretown | under 3% | B+ | C | 25 min | $104,423 |
| Berlin | 9% | B | C+ | 21 min | $86,691 |
| Waterbury | 3% | B | B+ | 30 min | $103,917 |
| Montpelier | 17% | B+ | A+ | 18 min | $81,030 |
| Worcester | under 3% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| East Montpelier | 6% | A− | B+ | 20 min | $92,778 |
Same-state neighbors only. Worcester: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Middlesex’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 Middlesex: questions
What is the median household income in Middlesex?
$109,632 (±$13,486) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Middlesex?
3.8%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Middlesex?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Middlesex work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Montpelier (17%, 5 mi), Berlin (9%, 9 mi), Burlington (8%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Middlesex walkable?
Middlesex is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Middlesex without a car?
1% 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 Middlesex, from the people who make the trip.
More of Middlesex
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.