Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Chicopee (6.3%) than in 77% of U.S. towns
At home: 8% of workers have no commute at all (Massachusetts 19%). Chicopee grades C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 9.7 in Springfield.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Chicopee and work: the main findings
A lot of Chicopee works one town over
35% of working residents work in a town that borders Chicopee: Springfield (20%), Holyoke (8%) and West Springfield Town (5%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Chicopee are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 29 across Massachusetts. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Massachusetts worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Chicopee residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Chicopee
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chicopee is better than 35% of U.S. towns, #265 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Chicopee’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chicopee could be anywhere from C to B−.
A commute of about 21 minutes in Chicopee
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chicopee workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 23,512 commuters (the 8% 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.
Half of Chicopee commutes less than 6 miles
About 15% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Chicopee
On a workday 19,737 residents head out to work, 3,938 work right here, and 14,251 people come in from elsewhere.
About 50,000 people are in Chicopee on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 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.
20% of working residents work in Springfield
Where Chicopee clocks in
20% of workers
8% 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.
The kinds of work in Chicopee
18,189 jobs are based in Chicopee.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chicopee, 2013 → 2023: 14,907 → 18,189. 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 Chicopee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Chicopee is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chicopee is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #96 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.6% 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 25,570 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 84% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 42% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 10.0% of Chicopee households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Chicopee’s commuters take a bus or train.
647th of 786: where Chicopee ranks among U.S. towns of 39,000 to 75,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Shrewsbury MA | 39,627 | $139K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Arlington MA | 46,563 | $151K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Billerica MA | 42,632 | $148K | 5.4% | 3.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 645 | Grand Island NE | 53,943 | $64K | 15.2% | 4.6% | 65% | C+ |
| 646 | Covington KY | 41,847 | $61K | 20.8% | 5.7% | 13% | C+ |
| 647 | Chicopee MA | 55,310 | $63K | 17.3% | 6.3% | 17% | C+ |
| 648 | Fitchburg MA | 42,136 | $73K | 15.6% | 6.7% | 17% | C |
| 649 | Titusville FL | 49,800 | $66K | 11.3% | 5.0% | 21% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 786 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Chicopee, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door is work for 35% of Chicopee
The biggest share goes to Springfield (20%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chicopee workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicopee | – | C+ | A | 21 min | $62,615 |
| Holyoke | 8% | C− | A | 19 min | $53,605 |
| Springfield | 20% | C− | A | 20 min | $52,656 |
| West Springfield Town | 5% | B− | B+ | 19 min | $69,371 |
| Ludlow | under 3% | B+ | B− | 20 min | $84,838 |
| South Hadley | 2% | A− | A | 24 min | $93,910 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Chicopee’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 Chicopee: questions
What is the median household income in Chicopee?
$62,615 (±$6,340) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chicopee?
17.3%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chicopee?
21 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chicopee work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (20%, 4 mi), Holyoke (8%, 4 mi), West Springfield Town (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chicopee walkable?
Chicopee is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chicopee without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 42% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chicopee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chicopee
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.