Devens draws 5,639 commuters a day, with 9.5 jobs for every working resident
Only 5% stay in Devens for work; outside it, Boston is the main destination (11%, 34 miles). Devens has 5,668 jobs; 596 of its residents have a job. 28% of workers work from home (Massachusetts 19%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Devens
Devens fills up on a workday
Devens has 5,668 jobs, 9.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 6,800 people are in town, 4 times the 1,700 who live here. Day and night ↓
Jobs in Devens have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Devens went from 2,311 in 2013 to 5,668 in 2023, +145%. The jobs ↓
Devens’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Devens is Boston, 34 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (68) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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; with 596 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The daily flow of workers through Devens
On a workday 567 residents head out to work and 29 work right here.
About 6,800 people are in Devens on a workday afternoon, 294% more 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.
In Devens, 40% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Devens, 2013 → 2023: 2,311 → 5,668. 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 Devens’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Devens to work
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.
Where the people who work in Devens live
Where Devens clocks in
11% of workers
6% 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 28 minutes each way, about the MA average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Devens workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 256 commuters (the 28% 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.
Devens and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Ayer. Darker towns draw more of Devens’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 Devens: questions
What is the median household income in Devens?
$189,250 (±$62,607) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Devens?
25.3%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Devens?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Devens work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (11%, 34 mi), Harvard (6%, 3 mi), Ayer (5%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Devens without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Devens, from the people who make the trip.
More of Devens
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.