Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Belmont has higher household incomes than 98% of U.S. towns
32% of workers work from home, next to 19% for Massachusetts as a whole. 3.6% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.0% across Massachusetts. The two grades for Belmont are A for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Belmont apart on work
Most Belmont residents work close to home
79% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
A lot of Belmont works from home
32% of Belmont workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Belmont works one town over
29% of working residents work in a town that borders Belmont: Cambridge (19%), Waltham (5%) and Lexington (3%). Next door ↓
Three in four Belmont workers earn over $40,000 a year
79% of Belmont’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. The jobs ↓
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 Belmont
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Belmont is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #36 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Belmont’s grade up ($183,137, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.3%, 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, Belmont could be anywhere from A to A+.
How far it is to work from Belmont
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.
About 29 minutes each way, about the MA average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Belmont workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,570 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Belmont
7,243 jobs are based in Belmont.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Belmont, 2013 → 2023: 6,617 → 7,243. 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 Belmont’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Belmont
On a workday 12,563 residents head out to work, 949 work right here, and 6,294 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Belmont on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.54 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
28% of working residents work in Boston
Where Belmont clocks in
28% of workers
19% 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.
Belmont is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Belmont is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #16 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Belmont 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 13,972 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 91% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 41% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 14.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 7.1% of Belmont households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 14% of Belmont’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Belmont is 117th of 1,509 U.S. towns of 19,000 to 37,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Hopkinton MA | 19,866 | $223K | 2.5% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Lexington MA | 34,648 | $238K | 4.7% | 2.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | Kaysville UT | 33,307 | $133K | 3.4% | 2.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 116 | Montgomery Township PA | 26,210 | $134K | 3.6% | 3.6% | 7% | A+ |
| 117 | Belmont MA | 27,118 | $183K | 3.6% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| 118 | Olney MD | 35,797 | $171K | 4.3% | 3.6% | 5% | A |
| 119 | Pecan Grove TX | 24,272 | $132K | 5.9% | 2.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,509 | 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 Belmont, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Work next door: 29% of Belmont’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Belmont workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont | – | A | A+ | 29 min | $183,137 |
| Waltham | 5% | A− | A+ | 25 min | $120,216 |
| Arlington | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 32 min | $150,701 |
| Cambridge | 19% | A− | A+ | 26 min | $130,748 |
| Watertown | 2% | A− | A+ | 28 min | $126,265 |
| Lexington | 3% | A+ | A+ | 31 min | $238,444 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Cambridge. Darker towns draw more of Belmont’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 Belmont: questions
What is the median household income in Belmont?
$183,137 (±$14,328) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Belmont?
3.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Belmont?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 32% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Belmont work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (28%, 10 mi), Cambridge (19%, 4 mi), Waltham (5%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Belmont walkable?
Belmont is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.3 out of 20, and 22% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Belmont without a car?
14% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 41% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Belmont, from the people who make the trip.
More of Belmont
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.