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Work & commute in Oakville · A commuter town

96% of Oakville’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Oakville for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Waterbury (16%), Watertown (15%) and Hartford (4%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Work in town
4%
201 of 4,747 working residents
Typical commute
12 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
23 min
Less than CT (27 min)
Work from home
5%
Less than CT (16%)
Jobs based here
2,633
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Oakville?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

16% of working residents work in Waterbury

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

Hartford: 183 residents work here (4%)NaugatuckMeridenDanbury: 125 residents work here (3%)Torrington: 99 residents work here (2%)BristolWaterbury: 770 residents work here (16%)New York: 141 residents work here (3%)Watertown: 716 residents work here (15%)WoodburyLitchfieldThomastonMiddlebury: 109 residents work here (2%)Southbury: 92 residents work here (2%)Southington: 93 residents work here (2%)WolcottCheshire: 126 residents work here (3%)OakvilleWaterburyWatertownHartfordNew YorkCheshireDanburyOakville
1
Waterbury3.5 mi away
16%770
2
Watertown2.3 mi away
15%716
3
Hartford24.4 mi away
4%183
4
New York, NY77.7 mi away
3%141
5
Cheshire11 mi away
3%126
6
Danbury24 mi away
3%125
7
Middlebury4.7 mi away
2%109
8
Torrington17.1 mi away
2%99
9
Southington11 mi away
2%93
10
Southbury10.9 mi away
2%92
Everywhere elseother towns and states
48%2,293
The top trips

Where Oakville clocks in

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

Next door

31% of Oakville works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Waterbury (16%). Darker towns draw more of Oakville’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Oakville23 min
Watertown24 min
Waterbury28 min
Day and night

Oakville quiets down on a workday

On a workday 4,546 residents head out to work, 201 work right here, and 2,432 people come in from elsewhere.

4,546live here, work elsewhere
201live and work here
2,432work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night9,300
Workday7,200
9,300live here− 4,500head out to work+ 2,400come in to work= 7,200on a workday

About 7,200 people are in Oakville on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.55jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.55 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 Oakville commutes less than 12 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 mi80 miWaterbury: 16% · 3.5 miWatertown: 15% · 2.3 miHartford: 4% · 24.4 miNew York: 3% · 77.7 miCheshire: 3% · 11 miDanbury: 3% · 24 miMiddlebury: 2% · 4.7 miTorrington: 2% · 17.1 miSouthington: 2% · 11 miSouthbury: 2% · 10.9 miWaterbury 16%Watertown 15%Hartford 4%New York 3%Cheshire 3%Oakville
OakvilleTop destinations (size = commuters)
45%Under 10 mi2,132 residents
36%10–24 mi1,694 residents
12%25–50 mi590 residents
7%Over 50 mi327 residents

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

The jobs

What the 2,633 jobs in Oakville are

2,633 jobs are based in Oakville. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oakville’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in OakvilleJobs Oakville residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms14%17%
Trade, transport & utilities42%19%
Services: health, schools, offices44%64%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less18%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month30%22%
Over $3,333 a month52%65%

Who does it

29 or younger27%21%
30 to 5445%49%
55 and older28%29%
+10%

Jobs based in Oakville, 2013 → 2023: 2,398 → 2,633. 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.

Time on the road

About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of Connecticut

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

A year of commuting
179 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Oakville23 min
Connecticut27 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
5%

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

About 1 in 10
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 Oakville

Oakville home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Oakville, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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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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