Photo: Daderot · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Easton earn more than those in 90% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 5.3 in New Bedford. Below the poverty line: 6.0% of residents; Massachusetts has 10.0%. The two grades for Easton are A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Easton: the gist
Inside Easton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Easton is better than 82% of U.S. towns, #140 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Easton’s grade up ($124,271, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Easton could be anywhere from B+ to A.
In and out of Easton on a workday
On a workday 9,955 residents head out to work, 1,237 work right here, and 8,415 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 (0.86 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.
14% of working residents work in Boston
Where Easton clocks in
14% of workers
8% 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.
Inside Easton’s 9,652 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Easton, 2013 → 2023: 9,156 → 9,652. 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 Easton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Easton: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Easton workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,040 commuters (the 21% 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.
The distance from Easton 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.
Easton is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Easton is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #117 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 7.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 12,703 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 4% 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 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% 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). 4.6% of Easton households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Easton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Easton next to U.S. towns of 18,000 to 35,000: 492nd of 1,576 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 490 | Newtown Township PA | 19,806 | $148K | 5.5% | 6.0% | 9% | A− |
| 491 | Leesylvania VA | 21,632 | $133K | 4.4% | 6.1% | 2% | A− |
| 492 | Easton MA | 25,795 | $124K | 6.0% | 5.1% | 11% | A− |
| 493 | Elkridge MD | 26,283 | $140K | 7.6% | 5.2% | 4% | A− |
| 494 | Roselle IL | 22,756 | $111K | 4.1% | 6.8% | 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 Easton, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
The towns around Easton
The biggest share goes to Brockton (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Easton’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 Easton: questions
What is the median household income in Easton?
$124,271 (±$7,055) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Easton?
6.0%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Easton?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Easton work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (14%, 21 mi), Brockton (8%, 5 mi), Canton (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Easton walkable?
Easton is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Easton without a car?
4% 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 Easton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Easton
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.