Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Cheshire has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Cheshire report 497 jobs, and 1,390 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Cheshire are C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 47.9 in Boston.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Cheshire at work: what stands out
Few Cheshire workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
One in three of Cheshire works in Pittsfield
457 working residents, 33%, have their main job in Pittsfield, 9.9 miles away. That’s 4 times as many as work in Cheshire itself. The commute map ↓
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 drives the Jobs & income grade in Cheshire
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cheshire is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #261 of 283 in Massachusetts. The poverty rate holds Cheshire’s grade up (8.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cheshire could be anywhere from D to B+.
Commuting from Cheshire: about 29 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cheshire workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,401 commuters (the 4% 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.
33% of working residents work in Pittsfield
Where Cheshire clocks in
33% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
A workday in Cheshire: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,281 residents head out to work, 109 work right here, and 388 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Cheshire on a workday afternoon, 28% 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.
The kinds of work in Cheshire
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cheshire, 2013 → 2023: 510 → 497. 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 Cheshire’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Cheshire’s commute, mile by mile
About 16% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Cheshire
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cheshire is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #88 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 8.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,465 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 61% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 27% 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). 4.0% of Cheshire households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Cheshire’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300, Cheshire ranks 2,954th of 4,698 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 154 | Princeton MA | 3,618 | $159K | 4.2% | 0.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 255 | Millville MA | 3,186 | $127K | 4.6% | 3.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 312 | Essex MA | 3,770 | $157K | 8.1% | 1.5% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,952 | Howe TX | 3,686 | $51K | 24.3% | 2.9% | <1% | C+ |
| 2,953 | Fennimore WI | 2,775 | $62K | 15.1% | 2.0% | 23% | C+ |
| 2,954 | Cheshire MA | 3,180 | $70K | 8.6% | 4.6% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,955 | Nottawa Township MI | 3,808 | $62K | 12.5% | 3.1% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,956 | Salisbury Township MO | 2,439 | $72K | 11.6% | 3.0% | 24% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | 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 Cheshire, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Cheshire and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Dalton (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cheshire workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheshire | – | C+ | A | 29 min | $69,803 |
| Lanesborough | 2% | B+ | B− | 22 min | $86,219 |
| New Ashford | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Windsor | under 2% | — | — | 37 min | — |
| Savoy | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Dalton | 3% | C+ | B | 22 min | $79,438 |
Same-state neighbors only. New Ashford and Savoy: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Windsor: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cheshire’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 Cheshire: questions
What is the median household income in Cheshire?
$69,803 (±$14,119) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cheshire?
8.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cheshire?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cheshire work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsfield (33%, 10 mi), Adams (9%, 4 mi), North Adams (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cheshire walkable?
Cheshire is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cheshire without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 27% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cheshire, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cheshire
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.