Photo: Tim Pierce · CC BY 3.0Carlisle has some of the highest household incomes of any U.S. town
Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. Below the poverty line: 1.5% of residents (Massachusetts 10.0%). Carlisle grades A+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Carlisle apart on work
A lot of Carlisle works from home
39% of Carlisle workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
Carlisle’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Carlisle is Boston, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 19% of working residents (430) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Three in four Carlisle workers earn over $40,000 a year
79% of Carlisle’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. The jobs ↓
Carlisle workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 Carlisle’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Carlisle is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #27 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income is its strongest input ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
The Census reports Carlisle’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carlisle could be anywhere from A to A+.
About 35 minutes to work from Carlisle
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carlisle workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,453 commuters (the 38% 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.
Miles to work from Carlisle
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.
Services make up most of the work in Carlisle
839 jobs are based in Carlisle.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carlisle, 2013 → 2023: 665 → 839. 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 Carlisle’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Carlisle
On a workday 2,149 residents head out to work, 148 work right here, and 691 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,800 people are in Carlisle on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.37 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.
19% of working residents work in Boston
Where Carlisle clocks in
19% of workers
10% 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.
Carlisle is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Carlisle is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #219 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 5.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,362 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). 0.8% of Carlisle households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Carlisle’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Carlisle is 206th of 3,582 U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 111 | West Newbury MA | 4,709 | $180K | 1.6% | 2.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 204 | Scandia MN | 3,979 | $102K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| 205 | Plain City OH | 4,322 | $118K | 3.5% | 2.7% | 4% | A+ |
| 206 | Carlisle MA | 5,286 | $250K | 1.5% | 4.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 207 | Highland Beach FL | 4,328 | $145K | 2.3% | 3.5% | 7% | A+ |
| 208 | Lake Bluff IL | 5,563 | $204K | 1.5% | 4.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,582 | 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 Carlisle, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Carlisle and its neighbors: 10% work next door
The biggest share goes to Concord (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Carlisle workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlisle | – | A+ | B− | 35 min | $250,000+ |
| Bedford | 3% | A− | A− | 26 min | $172,400 |
| Billerica | 2% | A | A− | 27 min | $148,200 |
| Chelmsford | under 3% | A | A− | 28 min | $140,629 |
| Acton | under 3% | A | A− | 35 min | $158,230 |
| Concord | 5% | A+ | A | 32 min | $195,350 |
| Westford | under 3% | A | B | 31 min | $187,198 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Carlisle’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Carlisle: questions
What is the median household income in Carlisle?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carlisle?
1.5%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carlisle?
35 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 38% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carlisle work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (19%, 23 mi), Cambridge (10%, 17 mi), Concord (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carlisle walkable?
Carlisle is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carlisle without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carlisle, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carlisle
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.