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Work & commute in Gales Ferry · A commuter town

98% of Gales Ferry’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Gales Ferry for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Groton (26%), Ledyard (9%) and Norwich (6%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Work in town
2%
8 of 482 working residents
Typical commute
8 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
15 min
Less than CT (27 min)
Work from home
17%
More than CT (16%)
Jobs based here
319
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Gales Ferry?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

26% of working residents work in Groton

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

New London: 20 residents work here (4%)Hartford: 20 residents work here (4%)New Haven: 8 residents work here (2%)Norwich: 29 residents work here (6%)Montville: 17 residents work here (4%)Ledyard: 42 residents work here (9%)GriswoldGroton: 126 residents work here (26%)East Lyme: 8 residents work here (2%)Stonington: 18 residents work here (4%)PrestonWaterford: 21 residents work here (4%)Gales FerryOxoboxo RiverGrotonLedyardNorwichWaterfordNew LondonHartfordGales Ferry
1
Groton5.8 mi away
26%126
2
Ledyard3.4 mi away
9%42
3
Norwich8.7 mi away
6%29
4
Waterford5.8 mi away
4%21
5
New London6.2 mi away
4%20
6
Hartford39 mi away
4%20
7
Stonington9.8 mi away
4%18
8
Montville4.7 mi away
4%17
9
New Haven44.2 mi away
2%8
10
East Lyme8.6 mi away
2%8
Everywhere elseother towns and states
36%173
The top trips

Where Gales Ferry clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 15 minutes each way, quicker than most of Connecticut

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
117 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.9 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Gales Ferry15 min
Connecticut27 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
17%

of Gales Ferry workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.

About 2 in 10
The jobs

What the 319 jobs in Gales Ferry are

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

Jobs based in Gales FerryJobs Gales Ferry residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms9%27%
Trade, transport & utilities16%13%
Services: health, schools, offices76%60%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less21%10%
$1,251–$3,333 a month29%20%
Over $3,333 a month50%70%

Who does it

29 or younger22%19%
30 to 5453%54%
55 and older25%27%
+39%

Jobs based in Gales Ferry, 2013 → 2023: 230 → 319. 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 2023.

Day and night

Gales Ferry quiets down on a workday

On a workday 474 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 311 people come in from elsewhere.

474live here, work elsewhere
8live and work here
311work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,100
Workday980
1,100live here− 470head out to work+ 310come in to work= 980on a workday

About 980 people are in Gales Ferry on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.66jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Gales Ferry commutes less than 8 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 miGroton: 26% · 5.8 miLedyard: 9% · 3.4 miNorwich: 6% · 8.7 miWaterford: 4% · 5.8 miNew London: 4% · 6.2 miHartford: 4% · 39 miStonington: 4% · 9.8 miMontville: 4% · 4.7 miNew Haven: 2% · 44.2 miEast Lyme: 2% · 8.6 miGroton 26%Ledyard 9%Norwich 6%Waterford 4%New London 4%Gales Ferry
Gales FerryTop destinations (size = commuters)
57%Under 10 mi275 residents
10%10–24 mi49 residents
26%25–50 mi123 residents
7%Over 50 mi35 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

Next door

17% of Gales Ferry works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Ledyard (9%). Darker towns draw more of Gales Ferry’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Gales Ferry

Gales Ferry home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Gales Ferry, from the people who make the trip.

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Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, 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.

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