LUNA (tugboat) · Photo: Nkwoodward · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Chelsea (9.2%) is higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income C+: better than 37% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #260 of 283 in Massachusetts.
Walkability A+: among the most walkable U.S. towns · #5 of 283 in Massachusetts.
Household incomes here are lower than in 55% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 33 minutes each way (Massachusetts 29, U.S. 26). About one in ten work in Chelsea; the top destination outside it is Boston (37%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Chelsea
Chelsea trades workers with the towns around it
Chelsea has about as many jobs (14,335) as working residents (16,112), but they are mostly different people: 14,394 residents leave for work each day while 12,617 people come in. Only 12% of the jobs in Chelsea are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Chelsea works one town over
42% of working residents work in a town that borders Chelsea: Boston (37%), Everett (3%) and Revere (2%). Next door ↓
Most Chelsea residents work close to home
73% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. Only 3% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Chelsea’s working residents have a job less than 4 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 33 minutes, longer than the Massachusetts average of 29. 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 Chelsea’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chelsea is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #260 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Chelsea’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (9.2%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chelsea could be anywhere from C to B−.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 14,394 residents head out to work, 1,718 work right here, and 12,617 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Half of Chelsea commutes less than 4 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
About 33 minutes each way, longer than most of Massachusetts
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chelsea workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,827 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Massachusetts: 75% drive alone, 8% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
37% of working residents work in Boston
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Chelsea clocks in
37% of workers
6% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
66% of the jobs in Chelsea pay over $3,333 a month
14,335 jobs are based in Chelsea. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chelsea’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chelsea, 2013 → 2023: 14,378 → 14,335. 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.
Chelsea is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chelsea is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #5 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Chelsea 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 18,786 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, 94% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 31.4 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). 28.4% of Chelsea households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 23% of Chelsea’s commuters take a bus or train.
Chelsea is 879th of 1,086 U.S. towns of 28,000 to 54,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Chelsea, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Lexington MA | 34,648 | $238K | 4.7% | 2.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Shrewsbury MA | 39,627 | $139K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Arlington MA | 46,563 | $151K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 877 | Wausau WI | 40,188 | $64K | 14.6% | 4.9% | 40% | C+ |
| 878 | South Moline Township IL | 36,062 | $68K | 16.3% | 5.9% | 18% | C+ |
| 879 | Chelsea MA | 40,130 | $72K | 20.7% | 9.2% | 11% | C+ |
| 880 | Beloit WI | 36,649 | $63K | 15.0% | 5.3% | 28% | C+ |
| 881 | North Highlands CA | 47,957 | $65K | 19.6% | 6.3% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,086 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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.
42% of Chelsea works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Boston (37%). Darker towns draw more of Chelsea’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
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 Chelsea: questions
What is the median household income in Chelsea?
$72,179 (±$7,994) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chelsea?
20.7%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chelsea?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chelsea work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (37%, 4 mi), Cambridge (6%, 5 mi), Everett (3%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chelsea walkable?
Chelsea is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.1 out of 20, and 30% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chelsea without a car?
23% of commuters take transit and 28% of households have no car. 94% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chelsea, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chelsea
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.