Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Earning a living in Easthampton
For jobs and income Easthampton is better than 58% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (A). 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. About one in seven work in Easthampton itself; outside it, Northampton draws the most (20%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Easthampton, in a few figures
Commutes from Easthampton are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 29 across Massachusetts. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Massachusetts worker. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Easthampton works one town over
27% of working residents work in a town that borders Easthampton: Northampton (20%), Holyoke (5%) and Hadley (2%). Next door ↓
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 Easthampton gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Job access by car holds Easthampton’s grade up (ahead of 71% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Easthampton could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Getting to work from Easthampton takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Easthampton workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,856 commuters (the 19% 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.
Easthampton on a workday afternoon
On a workday 6,238 residents head out to work, 1,203 work right here, and 3,786 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Easthampton on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.67 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.
The towns that employ Easthampton’s residents
Where Easthampton clocks in
20% of workers
11% 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.
What the 4,989 jobs in Easthampton are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Easthampton, 2013 → 2023: 4,246 → 4,989. 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 Easthampton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Easthampton, by distance
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.
Easthampton is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,461 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 38% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 5% 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). 6.1% of Easthampton households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Easthampton’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Easthampton ranks: 1,192nd of 2,109 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Westwood MA | 16,426 | $223K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,190 | Hornsby Bend TX | 12,367 | $90K | 15.0% | 4.9% | 1% | B |
| 1,191 | South River NJ | 16,262 | $96K | 12.5% | 7.7% | 6% | B |
| 1,192 | Easthampton MA | 15,851 | $72K | 8.0% | 4.7% | 16% | B |
| 1,193 | Baraboo WI | 13,224 | $70K | 8.4% | 2.9% | 25% | B |
| 1,194 | Lewiston NY | 15,676 | $78K | 11.6% | 3.8% | 16% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Easthampton, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Bordering towns draw 27% of Easthampton’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Easthampton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easthampton | – | B | A | 22 min | $71,673 |
| Southampton | under 3% | A | D | 22 min | $123,125 |
| Northampton | 20% | B− | A+ | 21 min | $80,288 |
| Holyoke | 5% | C− | A | 19 min | $53,605 |
| Hadley | 2% | B+ | A− | 20 min | $119,259 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Northampton. Darker towns draw more of Easthampton’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 Easthampton: questions
What is the median household income in Easthampton?
$71,673 (±$6,574) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Easthampton?
8.0%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Easthampton?
22 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Easthampton work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Northampton (20%, 4 mi), Springfield (11%, 12 mi), Holyoke (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Easthampton walkable?
Easthampton is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Easthampton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 5% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Easthampton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Easthampton
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.