Photo: Ken Gallager · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer people are out of work in Winooski (1.2%) than in 93% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Winooski itself; outside it, Burlington draws the most (30%, 3 miles). Winooski grades B+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Commuters spend 22 minutes getting to work on average; the Vermont average is 24, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Winooski: the gist
Much of Winooski works one town over
53% of working residents work in a town that borders Winooski: Burlington (30%), South Burlington (14%) and Colchester (9%). Next door ↓
Most Winooski residents work close to home
78% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 7% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Most jobs in Winooski pay over $40,000 a year
78% of the jobs based in Winooski 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Winooski earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Winooski is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #20 of 71 in Vermont. Unemployment holds Winooski’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (13.8%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Winooski could be anywhere from B− to A−.
How many miles Winooski commutes
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
34% of the jobs in Winooski make or build things
2,912 jobs are based in Winooski.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Winooski, 2014 → 2024: 2,283 → 2,912. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Winooski’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Winooski: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,497 residents head out to work, 310 work right here, and 2,602 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,300 people are in Winooski on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Out of Winooski to work: where people go
Where Winooski clocks in
30% of workers
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.
Getting to work from Winooski takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Winooski workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,742 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.
In Winooski, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Winooski is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #4 of 71 in Vermont. Both inputs place Winooski 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 5,669 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 82% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 13.4% of Winooski households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Winooski’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Winooski is 1,198th of 2,956 U.S. towns of 5,800 to 11,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 372 | Williston VT | 9,975 | $107K | 4.3% | 1.6% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 925 | Essex Junction VT | 10,921 | $89K | 9.5% | 1.9% | 11% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,129 | Shelburne VT | 8,133 | $116K | 8.4% | 3.8% | 16% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,196 | Eden NY | 7,513 | $97K | 9.7% | 4.0% | 13% | B+ |
| 1,197 | Templeton CA | 9,580 | $117K | 4.2% | 5.7% | 13% | B+ |
| 1,198 | Winooski VT | 8,239 | $80K | 13.8% | 1.2% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,199 | Bridgewater VA | 6,924 | $75K | 6.3% | 3.4% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,200 | New Richmond WI | 10,988 | $88K | 10.5% | 2.9% | 18% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,956 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Winooski, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
Next door is work for 53% of Winooski
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Winooski workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winooski | – | B+ | A+ | 22 min | $79,522 |
| Burlington | 30% | B+ | A+ | 19 min | $71,109 |
| Colchester | 9% | B+ | A | 20 min | $97,891 |
| South Burlington | 14% | A− | A | 18 min | $106,667 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Burlington. Darker towns draw more of Winooski’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 2024, 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 Winooski: questions
What is the median household income in Winooski?
$79,522 (±$11,330) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Winooski?
13.8%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Winooski?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Winooski work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Burlington (30%, 3 mi), South Burlington (14%, 4 mi), Colchester (9%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Winooski walkable?
Winooski is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.2 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Winooski without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. 82% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Winooski, from the people who make the trip.
More of Winooski
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.