Photo: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Bourne (5.6%) is higher than in 69% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 26 minutes getting to work on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. For jobs and income Bourne is better than 59% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (B+). About one in five work in Bourne; the top destination outside it is Falmouth (9%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Bourne: the gist
Bourne trades workers with the towns around it
Bourne has about as many jobs (6,674) as working residents (7,326), but they are mostly different people: 6,036 residents leave for work each day while 5,384 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Bourne are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Bourne’s workforce skews older
37% of Bourne’s working residents are 55 or older. 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.
What’s behind Bourne’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Bourne’s grade up (6.2%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bourne could be anywhere from B− to A−.
A workday in Bourne: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 6,036 residents head out to work, 1,290 work right here, and 5,384 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.91 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
67% of the jobs in Bourne pay over $3,333 a month
6,674 jobs are based in Bourne.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bourne, 2013 → 2023: 6,288 → 6,674. 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 Bourne’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Bourne’s residents
Where Bourne clocks in
9% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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 26 minutes each way for Bourne’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bourne workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,829 commuters (the 15% 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.
How far it is to work from Bourne
About 15% 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.
Bourne is a driving town
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 14.1% across Massachusetts.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,379 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 39% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 72% 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). 5.5% of Bourne households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Bourne’s commuters take a bus or train.
985th of 1,705: where Bourne ranks among U.S. towns of 15,000 to 28,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Westwood MA | 16,426 | $223K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Hopkinton MA | 19,866 | $223K | 2.5% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 983 | Washington Township PA | 15,518 | $78K | 7.4% | 3.0% | 9% | B |
| 984 | Matteson IL | 18,543 | $95K | 9.7% | 10.9% | 5% | B |
| 985 | Bourne MA | 20,772 | $91K | 6.2% | 5.6% | 18% | B |
| 986 | Meadowbrook VA | 20,749 | $86K | 12.4% | 5.3% | 2% | B |
| 987 | Hialeah Gardens FL | 22,777 | $65K | 13.5% | 3.7% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,705 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Bourne, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
The towns next door employ 23% of Bourne
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bourne workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bourne | – | B | B+ | 26 min | $91,058 |
| Sandwich | 4% | A− | B+ | 28 min | $122,486 |
| Wareham | 3% | B+ | B | 28 min | $90,383 |
| North Falmouth | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Falmouth | 9% | C+ | A− | 24 min | $93,043 |
| Plymouth | 7% | B+ | A− | 31 min | $116,941 |
| Marion | under 2% | B | A− | 34 min | $143,092 |
Same-state neighbors only. North Falmouth: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Falmouth. Darker towns draw more of Bourne’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 Bourne: questions
What is the median household income in Bourne?
$91,058 (±$6,712) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bourne?
6.2%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bourne?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bourne work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Falmouth (9%, 8 mi), Barnstable Town (7%, 13 mi), Plymouth (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bourne walkable?
Bourne is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bourne without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bourne, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bourne
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.