Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Wells has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Wells report 63 jobs; 507 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Wells is better than 22% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (C−). Only 2% stay in Wells for work; outside it, Rutland is the main destination (25%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Wells
Wells workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 48 minutes each way, against 24 across Vermont. Over a year that’s about 368 hours of commuting, 184 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (25 to 33 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Wells is a place people come home to
There are 63 jobs based in Wells, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Wells has about 750 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 507 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Wells’ grade
Household income holds Wells’ grade up ($75,417, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (6.4%) is left out: Wells’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, Wells could be anywhere from D to C+.
Time on the road from Wells: about 48 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wells workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 478 commuters (the 11% 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.
In and out of Wells on a workday
On a workday 499 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 55 people come in from elsewhere.
About 750 people are in Wells on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer 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.
Out of Wells to work: where people go
Where Wells clocks in
9% 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.
The kinds of work in Wells
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wells, 2013 → 2023: 79 → 63. 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 Wells’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Wells
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how Wells gets around
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.2% across Vermont, on an EPA index of 4.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 539 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 0.0% of Wells households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wells’ commuters take a bus or train.
2,821st of 4,312: where Wells ranks among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,819 | Cherry Grove-Shannon Township IL | 1,574 | $74K | 17.3% | 3.6% | 11% | C− |
| 2,820 | Crystal Lake Township MI | 1,094 | $70K | 11.4% | 4.9% | 2% | C− |
| 2,821 | Wells VT | 1,195 | $75K | 15.5% | 6.4% | 2% | C− |
| 2,822 | Keystone Heights FL | 1,579 | $80K | 18.2% | 4.4% | 3% | C− |
| 2,823 | Wisner NE | 1,224 | $62K | 10.3% | 0.7% | 13% | 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 Wells, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
15% of Wells works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Poultney (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wells workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wells | – | C− | C− | 48 min | $75,417 |
| Pawlet | 2% | C− | B− | 33 min | $62,273 |
| Poultney | 9% | C− | B+ | 29 min | $72,617 |
| Middletown Springs | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Tinmouth | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Middletown Springs and Tinmouth: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wells’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 Wells: questions
What is the median household income in Wells?
$75,417 (±$11,001) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wells?
15.5%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wells?
48 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wells work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rutland (25%, 16 mi), Poultney (9%, 7 mi), Rutland (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wells walkable?
Wells is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wells without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wells, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wells
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.