Work & commute · Durham

Work & commute in Durham, CT

Most working residents leave Durham for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are New Haven (10%), Wallingford (7%) and Hartford (7%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

269 of 3,393 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

21%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,124 Durham residents head out of town to work, 269 work right here, and 1,978 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Durham.

3,124live here, work elsewhere

269live and work here

1,978work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Durham goes to work

New Haven16.6 mi away

10%323

Durham (in town)right here

8%269

Wallingford6.3 mi away

7%249

Hartford20.5 mi away

7%233

Middletown5.7 mi away

6%213

Meriden7.4 mi away

4%150

North Haven10.8 mi away

3%111

Middlefield3.6 mi away

3%103

Branford14.1 mi away

2%66

Hamden13.3 mi away

2%65

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%1,611

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

How far

How far Durham commutes

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

33%

50%

12%

33%Under 10 mi

50%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Durham is a commuter town

0.66jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Durham are

2,247 jobs are based in Durham. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Durham’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Durham

2,247 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)35%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Durham residents hold

3,393 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month75%

+19%

Jobs based in Durham, 2013 → 2023: 1,884 → 2,247. 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.