Photo: Rhcowles · CC BY-SA 3.0Blandford has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income A−: better than 76% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability D: more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns.
Household incomes here are higher than in 70% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 36 minutes each way (Massachusetts 29, U.S. 26). Only 2% work in Blandford; the top destination outside it is Westfield (12%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Blandford
Blandford is a place people come home to
There are 113 jobs based in Blandford, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Blandford has about 720 people in it, 41% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Blandford 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 609 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Blandford’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Blandford is better than 76% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (5.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 54% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (0.3%) is left out: Blandford’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Blandford could be anywhere from B to A.
Blandford quiets down on a workday
On a workday 595 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 99 people come in from elsewhere.
About 720 people are in Blandford on a workday afternoon, 41% fewer than live here.
0.19 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.
About 36 minutes each way, longer than most of Massachusetts
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blandford workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 491 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.
12% of working residents work in Westfield
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Blandford clocks in
12% of workers
9% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 113 jobs in Blandford are
113 jobs are based in Blandford. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Blandford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blandford, 2013 → 2023: 60 → 113. 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.
Half of Blandford commutes less than 19 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 19% 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.
Most trips from Blandford start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Blandford is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Blandford 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 563 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 0.0 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). 0.4% of Blandford households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Blandford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Blandford is 541st of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Blandford, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 539 | Belmont Estates VA | 1,162 | $87K | 6.2% | 0.0% | <1% | A− |
| 540 | Walnut Creek NC | 1,119 | $166K | 6.6% | 1.7% | 1% | A− |
| 541 | Blandford MA | 1,212 | $92K | 5.5% | 0.3% | 2% | A− |
| 542 | Lebanon WI | 1,576 | $88K | 6.2% | 7.8% | 2% | A− |
| 543 | Lone Tree IA | 1,332 | $91K | 4.8% | 2.7% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 671 | New Marlborough MA | 1,500 | $117K | 2.5% | 3.5% | 12% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 710 | Monterey MA | 1,093 | $152K | 4.1% | 9.4% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 716 | New Braintree MA | 1,013 | $100K | 7.2% | 5.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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.
Blandford and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Chester (4%). Darker towns draw more of Blandford’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Blandford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blandford | – | A− | D | 36 min | $91,902 |
| Russell | under 3% | B+ | C− | 30 min | $108,750 |
| Chester | 4% | B | C− | 32 min | $89,390 |
| Huntington | 3% | B | C− | 34 min | $94,398 |
| Tolland | under 3% | — | — | 38 min | — |
| Granville | under 3% | B | C | 39 min | $84,375 |
Same-state neighbors only. Tolland: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Blandford: questions
What is the median household income in Blandford?
$91,902 (±$13,263) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blandford?
5.5%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blandford?
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 Blandford work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Westfield (12%, 11 mi), Springfield (9%, 22 mi), Northampton (5%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Blandford walkable?
Blandford is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.8 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Blandford without a car?
0% 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 Blandford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blandford
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.