Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Boxborough top those of 94% of U.S. towns
3.8% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.0% across Massachusetts. The two grades for Boxborough are A for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 5% stay in Boxborough for work; outside it, Boston is the main destination (15%, 28 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Boxborough, in brief
Boxborough’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Boxborough is Boston, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (411) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
76% of Boxborough’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, and so do 85% of the jobs based in Boxborough. 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 Boxborough’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Boxborough is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #103 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Boxborough’s grade up ($144,611, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, 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, Boxborough could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
How far Boxborough’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.
A place that makes things: 34% of Boxborough’s jobs are in goods
3,398 jobs are based in Boxborough.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Boxborough, 2013 → 2023: 3,807 → 3,398. 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 Boxborough’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Boxborough
On a workday 2,646 residents head out to work, 137 work right here, and 3,261 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,100 people are in Boxborough on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 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.
Where Boxborough goes to work
Where Boxborough clocks in
15% 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.
Commuting from Boxborough: about 30 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Boxborough workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,663 commuters (the 18% 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.
Getting around Boxborough: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Boxborough is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns, #181 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 6.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,238 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). 3.6% of Boxborough households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Boxborough’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Boxborough is 503rd of 3,432 U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,400
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 97 | West Newbury MA | 4,709 | $180K | 1.6% | 2.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 501 | Springdale MD | 5,226 | $162K | 1.7% | 7.9% | 1% | A |
| 502 | Bristol WI | 5,300 | $124K | 1.9% | 5.3% | 5% | A |
| 503 | Boxborough MA | 5,508 | $145K | 3.8% | 5.2% | 5% | A |
| 504 | San Martin CA | 6,954 | $158K | 7.9% | 2.9% | 5% | A |
| 505 | Goddard KS | 6,638 | $94K | 1.9% | 3.6% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,432 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Boxborough, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Work in the towns next to Boxborough
The biggest share goes to Acton (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Boxborough workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boxborough | – | A | B | 30 min | $144,611 |
| Littleton | under 3% | A | B+ | 33 min | $149,722 |
| Harvard | under 3% | A− | B | 32 min | $213,996 |
| Acton | 7% | A | A− | 35 min | $158,230 |
| Stow | under 3% | A | B− | 36 min | $185,809 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Boxborough’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 Boxborough: questions
What is the median household income in Boxborough?
$144,611 (±$35,275) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Boxborough?
3.8%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Boxborough?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Boxborough work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (15%, 28 mi), Acton (7%, 4 mi), Cambridge (7%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Boxborough walkable?
Boxborough is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Boxborough without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Boxborough, from the people who make the trip.
More of Boxborough
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.