Work & commute · Waterford

Work & commute in Waterford, CT

Most working residents leave Waterford for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are Groton (18%), New London (12%) and East Lyme (5%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

14%

1,221 of 8,842 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 7,621 Waterford residents head out of town to work, 1,221 work right here, and 7,001 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waterford.

7,621live here, work elsewhere

1,221live and work here

7,001work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waterford goes to work

Groton6 mi away

18%1,624

Waterford (in town)right here

14%1,221

New London2.9 mi away

12%1,099

East Lyme4.2 mi away

5%413

Montville7.8 mi away

5%408

Norwich13.9 mi away

4%370

Stonington12.2 mi away

3%250

Ledyard8.5 mi away

2%166

New Haven40.5 mi away

2%158

Hartford39.8 mi away

2%156

Everywhere elseother towns and states

34%2,977

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

How far

How far Waterford commutes

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

57%

17%

18%

57%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waterford is balanced between jobs and homes

0.93jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.93 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Waterford are

8,222 jobs are based in Waterford. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waterford’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Waterford

8,222 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities40%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Waterford residents hold

8,842 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month67%

−18%

Jobs based in Waterford, 2013 → 2023: 10,070 → 8,222. 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.