Jonathan and Simon Hosmer House · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Acton has higher household incomes than 96% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 47.9 in Boston. Below the poverty line: 3.4% of residents, against 10.0% across Massachusetts. Jobs and income earn Acton A; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Acton apart on work
Acton trades workers with the towns around it
Acton has about as many jobs (10,354) as working residents (11,994), but they are mostly different people: 10,849 residents leave for work each day while 9,209 people come in. Only 11% of the jobs in Acton are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Acton works from home
36% of Acton workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
Acton draws workers from far and wide
The 10,354 jobs in Acton are filled from a wide area. Acton’s own residents hold 11% and the ten next-biggest home towns 24%; the other 65% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Acton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Acton is Boston, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (2,017) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Acton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Acton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Acton is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #75 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Acton’s grade up ($158,230, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Acton could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Acton
On a workday 10,849 residents head out to work, 1,145 work right here, and 9,209 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Each way, about 35 minutes from Acton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Acton workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,111 commuters (the 36% who work from home are left out). Across Massachusetts: 75% drive alone, 8% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
17% of working residents work in Boston
Where Acton clocks in
17% of workers
9% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Acton
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
66% of the jobs in Acton pay over $3,333 a month
10,354 jobs are based in Acton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Acton, 2013 → 2023: 8,993 → 10,354. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Acton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Acton, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Acton is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #121 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 7.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 12,655 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.1% of Acton households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Acton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000, Acton ranks 259th of 1,642 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Hopkinton MA | 19,866 | $223K | 2.5% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Reading MA | 25,803 | $166K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 257 | Ladera Ranch CA | 23,793 | $184K | 4.2% | 4.3% | 4% | A |
| 258 | Brookfield CT | 18,566 | $148K | 4.1% | 3.5% | 14% | A |
| 259 | Acton MA | 24,786 | $158K | 3.4% | 4.7% | 10% | A |
| 260 | Upper Allen Township PA | 24,700 | $99K | 4.3% | 2.7% | 7% | A |
| 261 | Rocky River OH | 21,397 | $94K | 5.4% | 2.6% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Acton, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Acton and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Concord (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Acton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acton | – | A | A− | 35 min | $158,230 |
| Littleton | under 2% | A | B+ | 33 min | $149,722 |
| Carlisle | under 2% | A+ | B− | 35 min | $250,000+ |
| Boxborough | under 2% | A | B | 30 min | $144,611 |
| Concord | 4% | A+ | A | 32 min | $195,350 |
| Stow | under 2% | A | B− | 36 min | $185,809 |
| Westford | 2% | A | B | 31 min | $187,198 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Acton’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Acton: questions
What is the median household income in Acton?
$158,230 (±$13,899) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Acton?
3.4%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Acton?
35 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 36% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Acton work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (17%, 24 mi), Cambridge (9%, 18 mi), Waltham (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Acton walkable?
Acton is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Acton without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Acton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Acton
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.