Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0Becket has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 4% work in Becket itself; outside it, Pittsfield draws the most (20%, 14 miles). There are 195 jobs in Becket for 888 working residents. Becket grades C+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Becket at work: what stands out
Becket and Pittsfield trade workers both ways
Pittsfield is the top workplace for Becket residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Becket come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Becket is a place people come home to
There are 195 jobs based in Becket, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Becket has about 1,200 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Becket workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 54 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; with 888 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Becket’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Becket is better than 43% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Becket’s grade up (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Becket could be anywhere from D to A−.
Out of Becket to work: where people go
Where Becket clocks in
20% of workers
8% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Becket
On a workday 853 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 160 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Becket on a workday afternoon, 36% 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.
About 36 minutes each way for Becket’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Becket workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 854 commuters (the 13% 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.
Most jobs in Becket are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Becket, 2013 → 2023: 279 → 195. 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 Becket’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Becket
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.
Becket is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Becket is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 5.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 985 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). 0.6% of Becket households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Becket’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,921 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600, Becket comes 2,739th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 607 | Whately MA | 1,622 | $117K | 5.4% | 4.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 704 | Williamsburg MA | 2,445 | $105K | 2.3% | 3.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 732 | Otis MA | 1,610 | $109K | 1.2% | 6.2% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,737 | Charleston ME | 1,644 | $75K | 6.4% | 1.6% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,738 | Cushing ME | 1,482 | $84K | 7.7% | 3.6% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,739 | Becket MA | 1,922 | $80K | 12.1% | 3.6% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,740 | North Harmony NY | 2,197 | $71K | 6.9% | 5.7% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,741 | Patrick AFB FL | 1,644 | $76K | 15.4% | 3.2% | 0% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Becket, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Becket and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Lee (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Becket workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Becket | – | C+ | C+ | 36 min | $80,417 |
| Middlefield | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Otis | under 3% | A− | B− | 34 min | $108,898 |
| Washington | under 3% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Tyringham | under 3% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Lee | 8% | B | A | 18 min | $83,750 |
| Chester | under 3% | B | C− | 32 min | $89,390 |
Same-state neighbors only. Middlefield, Washington and Tyringham: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Becket’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 Becket: questions
What is the median household income in Becket?
$80,417 (±$29,141) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Becket?
12.1%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Becket?
36 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Becket work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsfield (20%, 14 mi), Lee (8%, 8 mi), Lenox (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Becket walkable?
Becket is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Becket without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Becket, from the people who make the trip.
More of Becket
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.