Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Bedford’s household incomes are higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 47.9 in Boston. 5.5% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.0% across Massachusetts. For jobs and income Bedford is better than 84% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Bedford
Bedford has far more jobs than workers
Bedford has 19,538 jobs, 3.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 28,000 people are in town, 88% more than the 15,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Bedford
32% of Bedford workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
78% of Bedford’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data, and so do 87% of the jobs based in Bedford. The jobs ↓
Bedford draws workers from far and wide
The 19,538 jobs in Bedford are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 28%; the other 68% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Bedford
Household income holds Bedford’s grade up ($172,400, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.1%, 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, Bedford could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The daily commute in and out of Bedford
On a workday 5,739 residents head out to work, 779 work right here, and 18,759 people come in from elsewhere.
About 28,000 people are in Bedford on a workday afternoon, 88% more than live here.
3.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 26 minutes each way for Bedford’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bedford workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,012 commuters (the 32% 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.
87% of the jobs in Bedford pay over $3,333 a month
19,538 jobs are based in Bedford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bedford, 2013 → 2023: 17,005 → 19,538. 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 Bedford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip into Bedford
Where Bedford clocks in
17% of workers
9% 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.
Where in the region Bedford works
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 Bedford, walking beats the bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 14.1% across Massachusetts.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,419 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 53% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 70% 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). 5.4% of Bedford households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Bedford’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Bedford is 632nd of 2,362 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Westwood MA | 16,426 | $223K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 630 | East Renton Highlands WA | 12,582 | $143K | 3.1% | 6.0% | 1% | A− |
| 631 | Cheat Lake WV | 10,902 | $117K | 6.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A− |
| 632 | Bedford MA | 14,836 | $172K | 5.5% | 6.1% | 12% | A− |
| 633 | Cedar Grove Township NJ | 13,916 | $151K | 4.1% | 8.3% | 4% | A− |
| 634 | Ontario NY | 10,701 | $83K | 5.7% | 1.6% | 14% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Bedford, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door is work for 16% of Bedford
The biggest share goes to Burlington (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bedford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | – | A− | A− | 26 min | $172,400 |
| Concord | 2% | A+ | A | 32 min | $195,350 |
| Billerica | 3% | A | A− | 27 min | $148,200 |
| Carlisle | under 2% | A+ | B− | 35 min | $250,000+ |
| Lincoln | under 2% | A+ | B− | 26 min | $175,117 |
| Pinehurst | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Lexington | 5% | A+ | A+ | 31 min | $238,444 |
| Burlington | 6% | A | A | 28 min | $146,436 |
Same-state neighbors only. Pinehurst: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bedford’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 Bedford: questions
What is the median household income in Bedford?
$172,400 (±$22,941) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bedford?
5.5%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bedford?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 32% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bedford work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (17%, 18 mi), Cambridge (9%, 12 mi), Burlington (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bedford walkable?
Bedford is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bedford without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bedford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bedford
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.