Work & commute · Westerly

Work & commute in Westerly, RI

About one in 3 of Westerly’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Groton (9%), Stonington (5%) and Providence (5%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

30%

3,086 of 10,342 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

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 7,256 Westerly residents head out of town to work, 3,086 work right here, and 4,573 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Westerly.

7,256live here, work elsewhere

3,086live and work here

4,573work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Westerly goes to work

Westerly (in town)right here

30%3,086

Groton, CT12 mi away

9%921

Stonington, CT6.3 mi away

5%534

Providence39.8 mi away

5%496

North Kingstown25 mi away

5%480

South Kingstown14.5 mi away

4%405

Warwick32.9 mi away

3%310

Hopkinton11 mi away

2%255

Ledyard, CT13.5 mi away

2%231

Richmond13.7 mi away

2%216

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%3,408

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

How far

How far Westerly commutes

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

40%

30%

23%

40%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

23%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Westerly is a commuter town

0.74jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Westerly are

7,659 jobs are based in Westerly. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Westerly’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Westerly

7,659 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Westerly residents hold

10,342 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month63%

−4%

Jobs based in Westerly, 2013 → 2023: 7,980 → 7,659. 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.