Photo: Ian Howard · CC BY 2.5A job hub: Boston has 2.1 jobs per working resident, and 490,140 people come in to work
Boston grades B for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. 662,899 jobs are based in Boston; 314,664 of its residents have a job. More than half work in Boston itself; outside it, Cambridge draws the most (7%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Boston at work: what stands out
Boston is where the jobs are
Boston has 662,899 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,021,000 people are in town, 52% more than the 673,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Most jobs in Boston pay over $40,000 a year
80% of the jobs based in Boston pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
A young workforce
31% of Boston’s working residents are 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in Boston is services
87% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Boston draws workers from far and wide
The 662,899 jobs in Boston are filled from a wide area. Boston’s own residents hold 26% and the ten next-biggest home towns 18%; the other 56% 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Boston
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Boston is better than 58% of U.S. towns, #225 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Boston’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.6%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Boston stays B.
Who leaves Boston for work, and who comes in
On a workday 141,905 residents head out to work and 172,759 work right here.
About 1,021,000 people are in Boston on a workday afternoon, 52% more 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Boston, 2013 → 2023: 548,565 → 662,899. 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 Boston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Boston’s workers come from
Where Boston clocks in
7% of workers
2% of workers
2% 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.
About 30 minutes each way for Boston’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Boston workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 289,756 commuters (the 21% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Boston
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.
Boston is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Boston is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #4 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Boston 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 368,226 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 85% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 47.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 33.3% of Boston households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 29% of Boston’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Boston is 11th of 28 U.S. towns of 471,000 to 909,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hempstead NY | 795,734 | $141K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 28% | A |
| 2 | Seattle WA | 784,777 | $124K | 9.9% | 4.6% | 60% | A− |
| 3 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Nashville TN | 745,904 | $78K | 13.9% | 4.5% | 63% | B |
| 10 | Portland OR | 635,109 | $91K | 12.7% | 5.8% | 59% | B |
| 11 | Boston MA | 672,973 | $97K | 16.6% | 6.1% | 55% | B |
| 12 | Colorado Springs CO | 494,743 | $85K | 9.0% | 5.6% | 63% | B |
| 13 | Omaha NE | 488,797 | $73K | 13.5% | 4.2% | 73% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Detroit MI | 649,095 | $40K | 32.7% | 14.0% | 31% | C− |
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 Boston, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Boston and its neighbors: 13% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Boston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | – | B | A+ | 30 min | $97,344 |
| Milton | under 1% | A | A+ | 31 min | $188,529 |
| Brookline | 2% | A | A+ | 27 min | $142,101 |
| Cambridge | 7% | A− | A+ | 26 min | $130,748 |
| Winthrop Town | under 1% | A− | A+ | 35 min | $116,167 |
| Dedham | under 1% | A | A | 29 min | $128,955 |
| Revere | under 1% | B | A+ | 34 min | $86,969 |
| Quincy | 2% | B | A+ | 35 min | $98,882 |
| Newton | 2% | A+ | A+ | 27 min | $190,304 |
| Chelsea | under 1% | C+ | A+ | 33 min | $72,179 |
| Watertown | under 1% | A− | A+ | 28 min | $126,265 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Cambridge. Darker towns draw more of Boston’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 Boston: questions
What is the median household income in Boston?
$97,344 (±$1,837) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Boston?
16.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Boston?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Boston work?
55% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cambridge (7%, 6 mi), Newton (2%, 10 mi), Waltham (2%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Boston walkable?
Boston is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.2 out of 20, and 49% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Boston without a car?
29% of commuters take transit and 33% of households have no car. 85% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Boston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Boston
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.