Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY 4.0Households in Dedham earn more than those in 91% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 5.6% of residents; Massachusetts has 10.0%. Jobs and income earn Dedham A; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 7.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 47.9 in Boston.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Dedham, in brief
Dedham trades workers with the towns around it
Dedham has about as many jobs (15,325) as working residents (13,136), but they are mostly different people: 12,016 residents leave for work each day while 14,205 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Dedham are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Dedham works one town over
41% of working residents work in a town that borders Dedham: Boston (34%), Needham (3%) and Canton (2%). Next door ↓
Most Dedham residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 3% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Dedham draws workers from far and wide
The 15,325 jobs in Dedham are filled from a wide area. Dedham’s own residents hold 7% and the ten next-biggest home towns 31%; the other 62% come from many towns beyond those. 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.
Why Dedham gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dedham is better than 94% of U.S. towns, #40 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dedham could be anywhere from A to A+.
In and out of Dedham on a workday
On a workday 12,016 residents head out to work, 1,120 work right here, and 14,205 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 (1.17 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.
Miles to work from Dedham
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.
34% of working residents work in Boston
Where Dedham clocks in
34% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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.
66% of the jobs in Dedham pay over $3,333 a month
15,325 jobs are based in Dedham.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dedham, 2013 → 2023: 14,236 → 15,325. 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 Dedham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Dedham takes about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dedham workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,211 commuters (the 20% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Dedham
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dedham is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #50 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Dedham 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 14,012 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 60% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 7.9% of Dedham households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Dedham’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Dedham is 143rd of 1,576 U.S. towns of 18,000 to 35,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Hopkinton MA | 19,866 | $223K | 2.5% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Lexington MA | 34,648 | $238K | 4.7% | 2.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 141 | Westport CT | 28,301 | $250K | 3.2% | 4.1% | 16% | A |
| 142 | Tewksbury MA | 31,901 | $128K | 3.4% | 3.7% | 9% | A |
| 143 | Dedham MA | 25,731 | $129K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 9% | A |
| 144 | Lyon Township MI | 26,867 | $146K | 4.8% | 3.1% | 6% | A |
| 145 | Lino Lakes MN | 23,220 | $127K | 2.7% | 4.0% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,576 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Dedham, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
41% of Dedham works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Boston (34%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Dedham’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 Dedham: questions
What is the median household income in Dedham?
$128,955 (±$9,667) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dedham?
5.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dedham?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dedham work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (34%, 10 mi), Cambridge (4%, 9 mi), Newton (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dedham walkable?
Dedham is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dedham without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dedham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dedham
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.