Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Ashburnham has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
Employers in Ashburnham report 924 jobs for 2,973 working residents. Ashburnham grades B+ for jobs and income and C for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 88% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Ashburnham: the figures worth knowing
Ashburnham’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ashburnham is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #187 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Ashburnham’s grade up ($118,809, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ashburnham could be anywhere from B− to A.
In and out of Ashburnham on a workday
On a workday 2,707 residents head out to work, 266 work right here, and 658 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,500 people are in Ashburnham on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
10% of working residents work in Fitchburg
Where Ashburnham clocks in
10% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
65% of the jobs in Ashburnham pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ashburnham, 2013 → 2023: 847 → 924. 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 Ashburnham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Ashburnham’s commute takes about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ashburnham workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,445 commuters (the 16% 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.
The commute from Ashburnham, by distance
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.
Few in Ashburnham walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ashburnham is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #255 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 4.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,909 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 1.8% of Ashburnham households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Ashburnham’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,033rd of 3,218: where Ashburnham ranks among U.S. towns of 4,600 to 8,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| 79 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,031 | Hanover Township OH | 8,396 | $80K | 6.5% | 3.0% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,032 | Kahaluu HI | 5,619 | $142K | 6.9% | 5.5% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,033 | Ashburnham MA | 6,554 | $119K | 6.8% | 3.0% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,034 | Greenfield Township OH | 5,954 | $86K | 5.8% | 4.3% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,035 | Twin Lakes CO | 8,030 | $96K | 9.8% | 4.8% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,218 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Ashburnham, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Ashburnham and its neighbors: 22% work next door
The biggest share goes to Fitchburg (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ashburnham workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashburnham | – | B+ | C | 32 min | $118,809 |
| Westminster | 3% | A | C | 27 min | $106,331 |
| Gardner | 7% | C | A | 31 min | $67,518 |
| Ashby | under 2% | B+ | B− | 33 min | $115,598 |
| Fitchburg | 10% | C | A | 27 min | $73,040 |
| Winchendon | 2% | C− | B+ | 32 min | $75,690 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ashburnham’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 Ashburnham: questions
What is the median household income in Ashburnham?
$118,809 (±$11,330) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ashburnham?
6.8%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ashburnham?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ashburnham work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fitchburg (10%, 6 mi), Gardner (7%, 6 mi), Leominster (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ashburnham walkable?
Ashburnham is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ashburnham without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ashburnham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ashburnham
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.