Photo: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Cambridge top those of 92% of U.S. towns
Cambridge grades A− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. The poverty rate is 12.8%; Massachusetts has 10.0%. At home: 31% of workers have no commute at all (Massachusetts 19%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Cambridge, in brief
Most Cambridge residents work close to home
84% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 3% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Cambridge is where the jobs are
Cambridge has 148,918 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 218,000 people are in town, 78% more than the 123,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Cambridge works one town over
39% of working residents work in a town that borders Cambridge: Boston (35%), Somerville (3%) and Watertown (1%). Next door ↓
Home offices are common in Cambridge
31% of Cambridge workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Cambridge is services
92% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 2% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
Why Cambridge gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cambridge is better than 82% of U.S. towns, #139 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Cambridge’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cambridge could be anywhere from A− to A.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Cambridge
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.
How a workday changes Cambridge
On a workday 36,434 residents head out to work, 16,931 work right here, and 131,987 people come in from elsewhere.
About 218,000 people are in Cambridge on a workday afternoon, 78% more than live here.
2.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Time on the road from Cambridge: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cambridge workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 48,353 commuters (the 31% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Cambridge
148,918 jobs are based in Cambridge.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cambridge, 2013 → 2023: 105,056 → 148,918. 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 Cambridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Cambridge’s workforce comes from
Where Cambridge clocks in
35% 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.
Cambridge is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cambridge is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #1 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Cambridge 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 69,864 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, 83% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 41.7 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). 33.2% of Cambridge households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 26% of Cambridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
For jobs and income, Cambridge is 60th of 334 U.S. towns of 86,000 to 165,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Newton MA | 90,741 | $190K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Naperville Township IL | 107,908 | $120K | 6.6% | 5.1% | 17% | A− |
| 59 | Goodyear AZ | 125,359 | $103K | 5.2% | 4.2% | 10% | A− |
| 60 | Cambridge MA | 122,588 | $131K | 12.8% | 3.4% | 32% | A− |
| 61 | Sandy Springs GA | 105,013 | $104K | 8.5% | 4.0% | 15% | A− |
| 62 | Santa Clara CA | 133,446 | $179K | 8.4% | 5.1% | 14% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 152 | Quincy MA | 103,173 | $99K | 10.6% | 6.9% | 14% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 182 | Lynn MA | 104,236 | $75K | 13.8% | 5.0% | 16% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 334 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Cambridge, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Bordering towns draw 39% of Cambridge’s workers
The biggest share goes to Boston (35%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cambridge workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge | – | A− | A+ | 26 min | $130,748 |
| Boston | 35% | B | A+ | 30 min | $97,344 |
| Somerville | 3% | A | A+ | 31 min | $132,572 |
| Belmont | under 1% | A | A+ | 29 min | $183,137 |
| Watertown | 1% | A− | A+ | 28 min | $126,265 |
| Arlington | under 1% | A+ | A+ | 32 min | $150,701 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cambridge’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 Cambridge: questions
What is the median household income in Cambridge?
$130,748 (±$3,564) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cambridge?
12.8%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cambridge?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cambridge work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (35%, 6 mi), Somerville (3%, 1 mi), Waltham (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cambridge walkable?
Cambridge is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.8 out of 20, and 65% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cambridge without a car?
26% of commuters take transit and 33% of households have no car. 83% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cambridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cambridge
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.