Work & commute · Colchester

Work & commute in Colchester, CT

Most working residents leave Colchester for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Groton (7%), Norwich (5%) and Hartford (4%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

916 of 5,801 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

18%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,885 Colchester residents head out of town to work, 916 work right here, and 2,562 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Colchester.

4,885live here, work elsewhere

916live and work here

2,562work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Colchester goes to work

Colchester (in town)right here

16%916

Groton21.7 mi away

7%422

Norwich13.2 mi away

5%307

Hartford22.6 mi away

4%212

Glastonbury14.2 mi away

3%203

Montville11.7 mi away

3%153

New London20.1 mi away

3%148

Manchester17.7 mi away

2%125

Waterford17.5 mi away

2%125

Windham14.1 mi away

2%108

Everywhere elseother towns and states

53%3,082

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

How far

How far Colchester commutes

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

24%

51%

16%

24%Under 10 mi

51%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Colchester is a commuter town

0.60jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.60 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Colchester are

3,478 jobs are based in Colchester. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Colchester’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Colchester

3,478 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs Colchester residents hold

5,801 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+8%

Jobs based in Colchester, 2013 → 2023: 3,222 → 3,478. 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.