Photo: ToddC4176 · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Bernardston works elsewhere
Bernardston grades B+ for jobs and income and D for walkability. There are 376 jobs in Bernardston, and 1,057 of its residents work somewhere. Only 4% stay in Bernardston for work; outside it, Greenfield is the main destination (18%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Bernardston in brief
Commutes from Bernardston are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 29 across Massachusetts. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Massachusetts worker. Time on the road ↓
Bernardston and Greenfield trade workers both ways
Greenfield is the top workplace for Bernardston residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Bernardston come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
40% of the jobs in Bernardston are in trade, transport and utilities, against 19% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Bernardston empties out on a workday
About 1,400 people are in Bernardston on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than the 2,100 who live here: 1,000 head out to work and 330 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Bernardston’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bernardston is better than 66% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Bernardston’s grade up (2.2%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 23% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bernardston could be anywhere from B− to A−.
From Bernardston, about 20 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bernardston workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,006 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.
Commuting out of Bernardston: the destinations
Where Bernardston clocks in
18% of workers
7% 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.
The kinds of work in Bernardston
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bernardston, 2013 → 2023: 434 → 376. 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 Bernardston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Bernardston, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,015 residents head out to work, 42 work right here, and 334 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Bernardston on a workday afternoon, 32% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Bernardston
About 20% 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.
Most of Bernardston commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bernardston is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Bernardston 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 1,152 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). 6.2% of Bernardston households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bernardston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bernardston is 1,300th of 5,148 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 559 | Whately MA | 1,622 | $117K | 5.4% | 4.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 652 | Williamsburg MA | 2,445 | $105K | 2.3% | 3.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 679 | Otis MA | 1,610 | $109K | 1.2% | 6.2% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,298 | Lyons CO | 2,119 | $123K | 11.9% | 4.3% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,299 | Country Club MO | 2,512 | $81K | 6.8% | 3.2% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,300 | Bernardston MA | 2,108 | $82K | 5.2% | 2.2% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,301 | Fitzwilliam NH | 2,500 | $101K | 9.2% | 1.1% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,302 | Hopewell Township OH | 2,601 | $96K | 6.9% | 3.5% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Bernardston, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
25% of Bernardston works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bernardston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernardston | – | B+ | D | 20 min | $81,940 |
| Leyden | under 3% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Greenfield | 18% | C− | A | 17 min | $55,614 |
| Gill | 7% | B | B+ | 21 min | $90,208 |
Same-state neighbors only. Leyden: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Greenfield. Darker towns draw more of Bernardston’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 Bernardston: questions
What is the median household income in Bernardston?
$81,940 (±$10,171) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bernardston?
5.2%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bernardston?
20 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bernardston work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenfield (18%, 6 mi), Gill (7%, 5 mi), Montague (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bernardston walkable?
Bernardston is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bernardston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bernardston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bernardston
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.