Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Household incomes put Bolton near the very top of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 2.9% of residents, against 10.0% across Massachusetts. Measured by household income, Bolton is among the highest-earning towns in the country. Bolton grades A 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
The commute and the jobs: Bolton in brief
Home offices are common in Bolton
41% of Bolton workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
No single place dominates Bolton’s commute
The biggest draw, Boston, gets only 8% of working residents, and 58% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Bolton residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Bolton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (30 to 34 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Bolton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Bolton is Boston, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (204) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Three in four Bolton workers earn over $40,000 a year
76% of Bolton’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.
Income, poverty and work: Bolton’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bolton is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #94 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Bolton’s grade up ($205,449, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.5%, 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, Bolton could be anywhere from A− to A+.
A commute of about 37 minutes in Bolton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bolton workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,753 commuters (the 40% 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.
8% of working residents work in Boston
Where Bolton clocks in
8% 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.
How far Bolton’s workers travel
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.
Jobs in Bolton: what the 1,317 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bolton, 2013 → 2023: 1,378 → 1,317. 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 Bolton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Bolton
On a workday 2,382 residents head out to work, 110 work right here, and 1,207 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,300 people are in Bolton on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.53 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.
Driving is how Bolton gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bolton is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns, #253 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Bolton 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 2,946 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 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 46% 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). 0.9% of Bolton households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Bolton’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Bolton is 470th of 3,306 U.S. towns of 4,500 to 8,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| 84 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 468 | Whiteford Township MI | 4,618 | $101K | 4.5% | 2.8% | 7% | A |
| 469 | Kentfield CA | 6,900 | $250K | 3.9% | 4.9% | 5% | A |
| 470 | Bolton MA | 6,477 | $205K | 2.9% | 5.5% | 4% | A |
| 471 | Chisago Lake Township MN | 4,958 | $133K | 3.9% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| 472 | Norway WI | 7,856 | $103K | 5.4% | 3.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,306 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Bolton, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
The towns around Bolton
The biggest share goes to Hudson (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bolton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bolton | – | A | C | 37 min | $205,449 |
| Hudson | 3% | A− | A− | 31 min | $103,400 |
| Lancaster | under 3% | A− | B | 32 min | $134,833 |
| Berlin | under 3% | A− | B− | 34 min | $121,336 |
| Harvard | under 3% | A− | B | 32 min | $213,996 |
| Clinton | under 3% | B | B | 30 min | $89,781 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bolton’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 Bolton: questions
What is the median household income in Bolton?
$205,449 (±$30,733) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bolton?
2.9%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bolton?
37 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 40% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bolton work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (8%, 31 mi), Marlborough (7%, 7 mi), Worcester (5%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bolton walkable?
Bolton is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bolton 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 Bolton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bolton
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.