Photo: Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger) · Public domainCharlton has higher household incomes than 87% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Charlton itself; outside it, Worcester draws the most (19%, 12 miles). Poverty touches 2.5% of residents; Massachusetts has 10.0%. The two grades for Charlton are A+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Charlton apart on work
What’s behind Charlton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Charlton is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #33 of 283 in Massachusetts. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Charlton could be anywhere from A to A+.
Goods jobs make up 38% of work in Charlton
3,953 jobs are based in Charlton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Charlton, 2013 → 2023: 3,810 → 3,953. 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 Charlton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Charlton by day
On a workday 5,963 residents head out to work, 523 work right here, and 3,430 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Charlton on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
Where the trip to work from Charlton ends
Where Charlton clocks in
19% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
About 33 minutes to work from Charlton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Charlton workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,659 commuters (the 13% 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 Charlton
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.
Most of Charlton commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Charlton is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns, #263 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% of 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 6,506 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 17% 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 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 2.2% of Charlton households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Charlton’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Charlton ranks: 175th of 2,059 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Westwood MA | 16,426 | $223K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 173 | Milford Township PA | 10,233 | $125K | 4.4% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| 174 | Granby CT | 11,963 | $120K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 175 | Charlton MA | 13,685 | $118K | 2.5% | 2.0% | 8% | A+ |
| 176 | Middletown Township PA | 17,342 | $129K | 4.8% | 3.0% | 6% | A+ |
| 177 | Green Valley MD | 13,602 | $172K | 2.8% | 3.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,059 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Charlton, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door to Charlton
The biggest share goes to Southbridge Town (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Charlton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlton | – | A+ | C− | 33 min | $117,587 |
| Southbridge Town | 3% | C | A | 28 min | $66,287 |
| Oxford | 3% | B+ | B− | 28 min | $103,862 |
| Sturbridge | 2% | A | C | 38 min | $136,759 |
| East Brookfield | under 3% | B | A− | 33 min | $81,042 |
| Spencer | under 3% | C+ | B− | 34 min | $80,533 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Charlton’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 Charlton: questions
What is the median household income in Charlton?
$117,587 (±$8,398) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Charlton?
2.5%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Charlton?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Charlton work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Worcester (19%, 12 mi), Boston (5%, 51 mi), Auburn (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Charlton walkable?
Charlton is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Charlton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Charlton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Charlton
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.