Work & commute · Essex

Work & commute in Essex, CT

Most working residents leave Essex for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are New Haven (6%), Old Saybrook (5%) and Hartford (4%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

14%

413 of 2,903 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,490 Essex residents head out of town to work, 413 work right here, and 2,968 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Essex.

2,490live here, work elsewhere

413live and work here

2,968work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Essex goes to work

Essex (in town)right here

14%413

New Haven26.7 mi away

6%170

Old Saybrook4.2 mi away

5%157

Hartford31.9 mi away

4%124

Westbrook4.6 mi away

4%117

Chester5.7 mi away

3%97

Middletown18.6 mi away

3%94

Groton19.8 mi away

3%90

Madison10.9 mi away

2%69

Old Lyme6.2 mi away

2%62

Everywhere elseother towns and states

52%1,510

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

How far

How far Essex commutes

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

35%

26%

32%

35%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

32%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Essex is balanced between jobs and homes

1.16jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.16 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Essex are

3,381 jobs are based in Essex. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Essex’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Essex

3,381 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month68%

Jobs Essex residents hold

2,903 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month70%

+1%

Jobs based in Essex, 2013 → 2023: 3,337 → 3,381. 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.