Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainMost of Brookfield commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Only 5% work in Brookfield; the top destination outside it is Worcester (12%, 16 miles). There are 405 jobs in Brookfield, and 1,707 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Brookfield B−; getting around on foot earns it C−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Brookfield in brief
Brookfield is a place people come home to
There are 405 jobs based in Brookfield, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Brookfield has about 2,200 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Brookfield
67% of Brookfield residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 47% of the jobs based in Brookfield pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. 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.
The four measures behind Brookfield’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brookfield is better than 47% of U.S. towns, #247 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Brookfield’s grade up ($81,250, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brookfield could be anywhere from C− to A.
Who leaves Brookfield for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,616 residents head out to work, 91 work right here, and 314 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Brookfield on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer 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.
What Brookfield’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brookfield, 2013 → 2023: 373 → 405. 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 Brookfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Brookfield’s residents
Where Brookfield clocks in
12% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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.
From Brookfield, about 32 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brookfield workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,609 commuters (the 12% 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.
Half of Brookfield commutes less than 18 miles
About 19% 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.
The commute in Brookfield is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brookfield is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns, #268 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,829 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 28% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 28% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 45% 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). 6.0% of Brookfield households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brookfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Brookfield next to U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,700: 2,254th of 4,221 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 165 | Princeton MA | 3,618 | $159K | 4.2% | 0.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 265 | Millville MA | 3,186 | $127K | 4.6% | 3.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 276 | Sherborn MA | 4,455 | $250K | 3.1% | 4.6% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,252 | Rockwell AR | 3,986 | $64K | 11.6% | 3.0% | 4% | B− |
| 2,253 | Benson NC | 4,660 | $67K | 14.4% | 2.9% | 7% | B− |
| 2,254 | Brookfield MA | 3,516 | $81K | 8.9% | 6.3% | 5% | B− |
| 2,255 | Lake Township MI | 2,851 | $73K | 6.3% | 3.6% | 5% | B− |
| 2,256 | Winnie TX | 3,290 | $81K | 4.4% | 12.8% | 6% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,221 | 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 Brookfield, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door to Brookfield
The biggest share goes to Sturbridge (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brookfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookfield | – | B− | C− | 32 min | $81,250 |
| East Brookfield | under 2% | B | A− | 33 min | $81,042 |
| West Brookfield | 3% | B | D | 42 min | $95,613 |
| North Brookfield | under 2% | B− | C− | 37 min | $79,285 |
| Sturbridge | 6% | A | C | 38 min | $136,759 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Brookfield’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 Brookfield: questions
What is the median household income in Brookfield?
$81,250 (±$37,166) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brookfield?
8.9%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brookfield?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brookfield work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Worcester (12%, 16 mi), Sturbridge (6%, 5 mi), Boston (6%, 57 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brookfield walkable?
Brookfield is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brookfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 28% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brookfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brookfield
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.