Work & commute · Canaan

Work & commute in Canaan, CT

Most working residents leave Canaan for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Salisbury (11%), North Canaan (10%) and Torrington (3%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

76 of 505 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

29%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 429 Canaan residents head out of town to work, 76 work right here, and 374 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Canaan.

429live here, work elsewhere

76live and work here

374work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Canaan goes to work

Canaan (in town)right here

15%76

Salisbury6.3 mi away

11%54

North Canaan4 mi away

10%51

Torrington12.7 mi away

3%17

New York, NY95.6 mi away

3%15

Sharon10.2 mi away

3%13

Great Barrington, MA17.9 mi away

3%13

Sheffield, MA10.1 mi away

2%11

Hartford34.9 mi away

2%10

Danbury40 mi away

2%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%236

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Canaan commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

41%

16%

26%

16%

41%Under 10 mi

16%10–24 mi

26%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Canaan is balanced between jobs and homes

0.89jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Canaan are

450 jobs are based in Canaan. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Canaan’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Canaan

450 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)78%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Canaan residents hold

505 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month60%

−2%

Jobs based in Canaan, 2013 → 2023: 460 → 450. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.