Work & commute · Watertown

Work & commute in Watertown, CT

Most working residents leave Watertown for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Waterbury (16%), Hartford (4%) and New York (3%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

1,751 of 11,115 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 9,364 Watertown residents head out of town to work, 1,751 work right here, and 6,966 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Watertown.

9,364live here, work elsewhere

1,751live and work here

6,966work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Watertown goes to work

Watertown (in town)right here

16%1,751

Waterbury5.7 mi away

16%1,746

Hartford24.6 mi away

4%471

New York, NY78.7 mi away

3%321

Danbury24.1 mi away

3%302

Cheshire13.1 mi away

2%277

Middlebury6.4 mi away

2%257

Torrington15 mi away

2%227

Southbury11.7 mi away

2%216

Thomaston3.5 mi away

2%204

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%5,343

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

How far

How far Watertown commutes

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

44%

34%

15%

44%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Watertown is balanced between jobs and homes

0.78jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Watertown are

8,717 jobs are based in Watertown. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Watertown’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Watertown

8,717 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)44%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Watertown residents hold

11,115 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+9%

Jobs based in Watertown, 2013 → 2023: 7,993 → 8,717. 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.