Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0Montpelier has 1.8 jobs for every working resident: 5,371 people commute in to work
6,557 jobs are based in Montpelier, against 3,557 working residents. Montpelier grades B+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. 27% of workers have no commute at all, against 17% across Vermont.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Montpelier in brief
Montpelier is where the jobs are
Montpelier has 6,557 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A lot of Montpelier works from home
27% of Montpelier workers work from home, against 17% across Vermont. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Montpelier are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across Vermont. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Vermont worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Montpelier than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Montpelier fell from 8,921 in 2013 to 6,557 in 2023, −26%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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.
Inside Montpelier’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Montpelier is better than 69% of U.S. towns, #15 of 71 in Vermont. Unemployment holds Montpelier’s grade up (2.4%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 44% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Montpelier could be anywhere from B− to A−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Montpelier
On a workday 2,371 residents head out to work and 1,186 work right here.
About 11,000 people are in Montpelier on a workday afternoon, 38% more 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.
About 18 minutes each way for Montpelier’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Montpelier workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,167 commuters (the 27% 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.
70% of the jobs in Montpelier pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Montpelier, 2013 → 2023: 8,921 → 6,557. 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 Montpelier’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Montpelier’s workers come from
Where Montpelier clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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.
Half of Montpelier commutes less than 6 miles
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.
Montpelier is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Montpelier is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #3 of 71 in Vermont. Both inputs place Montpelier 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 4,332 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 91% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 65% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 8.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 92% 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). 9.6% of Montpelier households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Montpelier’s commuters take a bus or train.
Montpelier places 1,137th of 3,026 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,500 to 10,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 374 | Williston VT | 9,975 | $107K | 4.3% | 1.6% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,134 | Shelburne VT | 8,133 | $116K | 8.4% | 3.8% | 15% | B+ |
| 1,135 | Runnemede NJ | 8,443 | $91K | 8.0% | 6.1% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,136 | Napoleon OH | 8,680 | $77K | 7.9% | 2.1% | 29% | B+ |
| 1,137 | Montpelier VT | 7,823 | $81K | 6.5% | 2.4% | 33% | B+ |
| 1,138 | Washington NJ | 7,326 | $81K | 8.5% | 3.0% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,139 | Vinton VA | 7,967 | $65K | 10.5% | 0.9% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,200 | Winooski VT | 8,239 | $80K | 13.8% | 1.2% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,026 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Montpelier, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
Bordering towns draw 12% of Montpelier’s workers
The biggest share goes to Berlin (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Montpelier workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montpelier | – | B+ | A+ | 18 min | $81,030 |
| Berlin | 8% | B | C+ | 21 min | $86,691 |
| East Montpelier | 2% | A− | B+ | 20 min | $92,778 |
| Middlesex | 2% | A− | B− | 27 min | $109,632 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Montpelier’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 Montpelier: questions
What is the median household income in Montpelier?
$81,030 (±$6,037) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Montpelier?
6.5%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Montpelier?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Montpelier work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Berlin (8%, 6 mi), Burlington (7%, 36 mi), Barre (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Montpelier walkable?
Montpelier is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.5 out of 20, and 17% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Montpelier without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 65% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Montpelier, from the people who make the trip.
More of Montpelier
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.