Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Brockton (8.6%) is higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 47.9 in Boston. For jobs and income Brockton is better than 46% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (A). Home is the office for 7% of workers, against 19% across Massachusetts.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs & income in Brockton: the grade in detail
Job access by car holds Brockton’s grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); 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, Brockton could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
Brockton on a workday afternoon
On a workday 37,859 residents head out to work, 9,788 work right here, and 25,329 people come in from elsewhere.
About 94,000 people are in Brockton on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.74 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.
17% of working residents work in Boston
Where Brockton clocks in
17% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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.
Jobs in Brockton: what the 35,117 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brockton, 2013 → 2023: 36,246 → 35,117. 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 Brockton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 32 minutes in Brockton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brockton workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 44,919 commuters (the 7% 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.
Brockton’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Brockton is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 48,247 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 97% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 63% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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). 16.3% of Brockton households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Brockton’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
292nd of 411: where Brockton ranks among U.S. towns of 74,000 to 143,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Newton MA | 90,741 | $190K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Somerville MA | 84,211 | $133K | 9.8% | 3.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Cambridge MA | 122,588 | $131K | 12.8% | 3.4% | 32% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 290 | Pike Township IN | 84,515 | $69K | 14.2% | 5.7% | 17% | B− |
| 291 | Longview TX | 83,236 | $63K | 17.3% | 3.1% | 45% | B− |
| 292 | Brockton MA | 106,134 | $80K | 13.5% | 8.6% | 21% | B− |
| 293 | Spokane Valley WA | 108,405 | $74K | 12.9% | 5.2% | 30% | B− |
| 294 | Hawthorne CA | 82,741 | $76K | 15.5% | 7.9% | 6% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 411 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Brockton, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Around Brockton: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Easton (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brockton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brockton | – | B− | A | 32 min | $80,115 |
| Abington | under 2% | A− | A− | 33 min | $125,400 |
| West Bridgewater | under 2% | A | C | 26 min | $123,406 |
| Whitman | under 2% | A− | A− | 36 min | $108,933 |
| East Bridgewater | under 2% | A− | B− | 32 min | $133,853 |
| Easton | 2% | A− | A− | 30 min | $124,271 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Brockton’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 Brockton: questions
What is the median household income in Brockton?
$80,115 (±$2,930) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brockton?
13.5%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brockton?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brockton work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (17%, 17 mi), Stoughton (3%, 5 mi), Braintree Town (3%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brockton walkable?
Brockton is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brockton without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. 63% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brockton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brockton
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.