Photo: Ahale at English Wikipedia · Public domainFewer people are out of work in Vergennes (1.6%) than in 89% of U.S. towns
Vergennes grades B− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. About one in five stay in Vergennes for work; outside it, Middlebury is the main destination (16%, 13 miles). The trip to work takes 21 minutes on average, where Vermont has 24 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Vergennes at work: what stands out
Vergennes trades workers with the towns around it
Vergennes has about as many jobs (1,622) as working residents (1,359), but they are mostly different people: 1,093 residents leave for work each day while 1,356 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in Vergennes are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Vergennes makes and builds things
52% of the jobs based in Vergennes are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Vergennes residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 21%. The jobs ↓
Most jobs in Vergennes pay over $40,000 a year
74% of the jobs based in Vergennes pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. 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 Vergennes’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Vergennes is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #33 of 71 in Vermont. Unemployment holds Vergennes’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 24% 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, Vergennes could be anywhere from C to B+.
How a workday changes Vergennes
On a workday 1,093 residents head out to work, 266 work right here, and 1,356 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Vergennes on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.19 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.
Goods jobs make up 52% of work in Vergennes
1,622 jobs are based in Vergennes.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vergennes, 2013 → 2023: 1,508 → 1,622. 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 Vergennes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Out of Vergennes to work: where people go
Where Vergennes clocks in
16% 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.
Getting to work from Vergennes takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vergennes workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,187 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.
Vergennes’ 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Vergennes
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Vergennes is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #7 of 71 in Vermont. Both inputs place Vergennes 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 1,413 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 97% 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 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 68% 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). 8.0% of Vergennes households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Vergennes’ commuters take a bus or train.
Vergennes next to U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500: 2,177th of 5,083 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 821 | East Montpelier VT | 2,594 | $93K | 2.1% | 2.6% | 16% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 851 | Dummerston VT | 1,859 | $102K | 4.5% | 1.6% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 982 | Westford VT | 2,072 | $113K | 2.5% | 4.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,175 | Randolph NY | 2,405 | $77K | 9.1% | 2.8% | 19% | B− |
| 2,176 | Frankfort NY | 2,275 | $51K | 11.2% | 1.4% | 6% | B− |
| 2,177 | Vergennes VT | 2,559 | $77K | 11.6% | 1.6% | 20% | B− |
| 2,178 | Palmyra Township IL | 2,860 | $94K | 5.5% | 5.9% | 3% | B− |
| 2,179 | Grand Mound WA | 3,287 | $72K | 7.3% | 4.2% | 6% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Vergennes, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
How Vergennes compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Ferrisburgh (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Vergennes workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vergennes | – | B− | A+ | 21 min | $76,587 |
| Ferrisburgh | 4% | B | B | 28 min | $106,989 |
| Waltham | under 3% | — | — | 28 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Waltham: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Vergennes’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 Vergennes: questions
What is the median household income in Vergennes?
$76,587 (±$12,755) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vergennes?
11.6%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vergennes?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vergennes work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Middlebury (16%, 13 mi), Burlington (10%, 22 mi), South Burlington (7%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vergennes walkable?
Vergennes is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.2 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vergennes without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vergennes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vergennes
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.