Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0Work and commuting in Plainfield
Jobs and income earn Plainfield C; getting around on foot earns it C+. Only 7% stay in Plainfield for work; outside it, Montpelier is the main destination (15%, 8 miles). The average commute takes 24 minutes each way, next to 24 for Vermont and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Plainfield at work: what stands out
How Plainfield earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Plainfield is better than 27% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Plainfield’s grade up (11.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 21% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.5%) is left out: Plainfield’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, Plainfield could be anywhere from D to B.
In Plainfield, services account for most jobs
309 jobs are based in Plainfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plainfield, 2013 → 2023: 658 → 309. 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 Plainfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Plainfield
On a workday 458 residents head out to work, 33 work right here, and 276 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Plainfield on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.63 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.
Out of Plainfield to work: where people go
Where Plainfield clocks in
15% of workers
10% 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.
How long Plainfield spends getting to work: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Plainfield workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 640 commuters (the 16% 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.
Plainfield’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.
Plainfield is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Plainfield is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Plainfield 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 766 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). <1% 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). 3.2% of Plainfield households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Plainfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,600, Plainfield ranks 2,557th of 4,312 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 464 | Bolton VT | 1,277 | $111K | 2.9% | 1.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 595 | Cornwall VT | 1,290 | $115K | 0.8% | 7.4% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 769 | West Windsor VT | 1,355 | $109K | 3.7% | 3.4% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,555 | Angel Fire NM | 1,170 | $108K | 18.0% | 1.2% | 28% | C |
| 2,556 | Old River-Winfree TX | 1,495 | $72K | 25.8% | 8.5% | 0% | C |
| 2,557 | Plainfield VT | 1,218 | $69K | 11.6% | 0.5% | 7% | C |
| 2,558 | Rio VA | 1,252 | $56K | 22.2% | 8.0% | 5% | C |
| 2,559 | Freeland WA | 1,548 | $83K | 12.1% | 6.5% | 7% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | 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 Plainfield, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
How Plainfield compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to East Montpelier (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Plainfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainfield | – | C | C+ | 24 min | $69,250 |
| Marshfield | 2% | C− | C+ | 29 min | $60,313 |
| Groton | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| East Montpelier | 5% | A− | B+ | 20 min | $92,778 |
Same-state neighbors only. Groton: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Plainfield’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 Plainfield: questions
What is the median household income in Plainfield?
$69,250 (±$31,481) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plainfield?
11.6%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plainfield?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Plainfield work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Montpelier (15%, 8 mi), Berlin (10%, 10 mi), Barre (10%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Plainfield walkable?
Plainfield is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Plainfield 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 Plainfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Plainfield
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.