Fort Hill Rural Historic District · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Eastham has higher unemployment (9.7%) than 94% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Eastham itself; outside it, Orleans draws the most (12%, 5 miles). Jobs and income earn Eastham C−; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.1 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
Eastham at work: what stands out
Commutes from Eastham are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 29 across Massachusetts. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Massachusetts worker. Time on the road ↓
Eastham’s workforce skews older
41% of Eastham’s working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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 Eastham
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Eastham is better than 21% of U.S. towns, #278 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Eastham’s grade up ($72,992, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Eastham could be anywhere from D to C+.
The daily trip from Eastham: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eastham workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,836 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.
Factories, building and farms: 30% of the jobs in Eastham
1,045 jobs are based in Eastham.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eastham, 2013 → 2023: 948 → 1,045. 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 Eastham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Eastham
About 31% 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 daily commute in and out of Eastham
On a workday 1,618 residents head out to work, 315 work right here, and 730 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Eastham on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.54 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Eastham work
Where Eastham clocks in
12% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Eastham
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Eastham is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #95 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Eastham 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 2,306 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 30% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 70% 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). 4.7% of Eastham households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Eastham’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,432 U.S. towns of 4,100 to 7,900, Eastham comes 2,817th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | West Newbury MA | 4,709 | $180K | 1.6% | 2.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,815 | Huntingburg IN | 6,522 | $54K | 16.0% | 5.4% | 23% | C− |
| 2,816 | Greenfield OH | 4,329 | $47K | 20.0% | 2.9% | 19% | C− |
| 2,817 | Eastham MA | 5,844 | $73K | 10.7% | 9.7% | 16% | C− |
| 2,818 | Stowe Township PA | 6,119 | $53K | 23.1% | 14.0% | 2% | C− |
| 2,819 | Violet LA | 4,122 | $51K | 17.6% | 9.4% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,432 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Eastham, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
17% of Eastham works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Orleans. Darker towns draw more of Eastham’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 Eastham: questions
What is the median household income in Eastham?
$72,992 (±$7,790) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eastham?
10.7%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eastham?
19 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Eastham work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Orleans (12%, 5 mi), Barnstable Town (7%, 23 mi), Boston (6%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Eastham walkable?
Eastham is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Eastham without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Eastham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eastham
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.