Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Williston draws 9,996 commuters a day, with 2.3 jobs for every working resident
Jobs and income earn Williston A; getting around on foot earns it B−. Employers in Williston report 10,793 jobs, and 4,791 of its residents work somewhere. Household incomes here are higher than in 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Williston stands out on work
Most Williston residents work close to home
80% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 7% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Williston is where the jobs are
Williston has 10,793 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 16,000 people are in town, 60% more than the 10,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Williston works one town over
26% of working residents work in a town that borders Williston: South Burlington (17%), Essex Junction (5%) and Essex (4%). Next door ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Williston
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Williston is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #2 of 71 in Vermont. Unemployment is its strongest input (1.6%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 62% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Williston could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Williston
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.
How many people are in Williston by day
On a workday 3,994 residents head out to work and 797 work right here.
About 16,000 people are in Williston on a workday afternoon, 60% 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.
Where Williston’s workers come from
Where Williston clocks in
24% of workers
6% 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.
65% of the jobs in Williston pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Williston, 2013 → 2023: 11,719 → 10,793. 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 Williston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Williston
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Williston workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,433 commuters (the 22% 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.
The commute in Williston is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Williston is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #56 of 71 in Vermont. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.2% across Vermont.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,706 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 49% 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 4.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 81% 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). 4.4% of Williston households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Williston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Williston is 369th among 2,744 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 13,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 367 | Emerson NJ | 7,371 | $156K | 3.1% | 5.6% | 4% | A |
| 368 | Utica Township IN | 9,258 | $103K | 4.0% | 3.2% | 10% | A |
| 369 | Williston VT | 9,975 | $107K | 4.3% | 1.6% | 17% | A |
| 370 | Tellico Village TN | 7,414 | $107K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 9% | A |
| 371 | Ross Township OH | 9,073 | $94K | 3.9% | 2.2% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 509 | Essex VT | 11,346 | $110K | 5.0% | 2.1% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 934 | Essex Junction VT | 10,921 | $89K | 9.5% | 1.9% | 11% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,098 | Shelburne VT | 8,133 | $116K | 8.4% | 3.8% | 15% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,744 | 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 Williston, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
26% of Williston works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to South Burlington (17%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Williston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williston | – | A | B− | 20 min | $106,967 |
| South Burlington | 17% | A− | A | 18 min | $106,667 |
| Essex | 4% | A | B+ | 22 min | $110,199 |
| Jericho | under 2% | A | B+ | 26 min | $116,923 |
| Essex Junction | 5% | A− | A | 19 min | $89,257 |
| Richmond | under 2% | A | C+ | 25 min | $108,235 |
| St. George | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. St. George: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Williston’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 Williston: questions
What is the median household income in Williston?
$106,967 (±$11,875) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Williston?
4.3%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Williston?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Williston work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Burlington (24%, 8 mi), South Burlington (17%, 4 mi), Colchester (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Williston walkable?
Williston is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 10.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Williston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Williston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Williston
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.