Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Barnstable Town have higher incomes than those in 70% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Barnstable Town are B+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 7.4% of residents; Massachusetts has 10.0%. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 47.9 in Boston.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Barnstable Town apart
What’s behind Barnstable Town’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Barnstable Town is better than 71% of U.S. towns, #191 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income is its strongest input ($91,982, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Barnstable Town could be anywhere from B to A−.
65% of the jobs in Barnstable Town pay over $3,333 a month
23,629 jobs are based in Barnstable Town.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Barnstable Town, 2013 → 2023: 21,371 → 23,629. 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 Barnstable Town’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Barnstable Town
On a workday 11,914 residents head out to work, 8,022 work right here, and 15,607 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 (1.19 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.
6% of working residents work in Yarmouth
Where Barnstable Town clocks in
6% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
Barnstable Town’s commute takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Barnstable Town workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 21,613 commuters (the 12% 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.
How far it is to work from Barnstable Town
About 24% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
In Barnstable Town, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Barnstable Town is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #109 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Barnstable Town near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 24,657 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 34% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 74% 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). 6.2% of Barnstable Town households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Barnstable Town’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Barnstable Town is 416th among 904 U.S. towns of 35,000 to 68,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| 3 | Oakton VA | 36,528 | $161K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Shrewsbury MA | 39,627 | $139K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Arlington MA | 46,563 | $151K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Natick MA | 36,969 | $139K | 5.8% | 3.2% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 414 | Holland MI | 35,372 | $76K | 10.3% | 2.5% | 27% | B+ |
| 415 | Woburn MA | 43,962 | $111K | 7.9% | 7.9% | 15% | B+ |
| 416 | Barnstable Town MA | 50,101 | $92K | 7.4% | 3.1% | 40% | B+ |
| 417 | University Place WA | 35,479 | $99K | 8.2% | 5.1% | 6% | B+ |
| 418 | Meadow Woods FL | 42,852 | $83K | 8.4% | 4.3% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 904 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Barnstable Town, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door is work for 12% of Barnstable Town
The biggest share goes to Yarmouth (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Barnstable Town workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnstable Town | – | B+ | A− | 25 min | $91,982 |
| Mashpee | 3% | B | B | 27 min | $95,299 |
| Yarmouth | 6% | B− | A− | 24 min | $86,039 |
| West Yarmouth | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Popponesset Island | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Yarmouth Port | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Mashpee Neck | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Sandwich | 3% | A− | B+ | 28 min | $122,486 |
Same-state neighbors only. West Yarmouth, Popponesset Island, Yarmouth Port and Mashpee Neck: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Barnstable Town’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 Barnstable Town: questions
What is the median household income in Barnstable Town?
$91,982 (±$6,360) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Barnstable Town?
7.4%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Barnstable Town?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Barnstable Town work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Yarmouth (6%, 7 mi), Boston (5%, 57 mi), Falmouth (4%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Barnstable Town walkable?
Barnstable Town is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Barnstable Town without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Barnstable Town, from the people who make the trip.
More of Barnstable Town
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.