Photo: Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger) · Public domainHousehold incomes in Fall River trail those of 79% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 5.3 in New Bedford. Below the poverty line: 19.6% of residents, against 10.0% across Massachusetts. Fall River grades C 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
Where Fall River stands out on work
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Fall River
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fall River is better than 29% of U.S. towns, #270 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Fall River’s grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fall River could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Who leaves Fall River for work, and who comes in
On a workday 26,771 residents head out to work, 11,615 work right here, and 23,951 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 (0.93 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.
5% of working residents work in New Bedford
Where Fall River clocks in
5% of workers
5% of workers
3% 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.
The 35,566 jobs based in Fall River
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fall River, 2013 → 2023: 33,935 → 35,566. 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 Fall River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Fall River: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fall River workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 40,547 commuters (the 7% 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.
How far it is to work from Fall River
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.
Fall River is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fall River is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #54 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 14.1% across Massachusetts.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 43,658 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 83% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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). 16.4% of Fall River households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Fall River’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Fall River ranks: 399th of 457 U.S. towns of 67,000 to 129,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | Bethesda MD | 69,397 | $192K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Newton MA | 90,741 | $190K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Somerville MA | 84,211 | $133K | 9.8% | 3.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Cambridge MA | 122,588 | $131K | 12.8% | 3.4% | 32% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 397 | Kalamazoo MI | 72,683 | $52K | 24.9% | 6.9% | 33% | C |
| 398 | Daytona Beach FL | 88,471 | $52K | 20.4% | 4.7% | 29% | C |
| 399 | Fall River MA | 95,298 | $57K | 19.6% | 6.5% | 30% | C |
| 400 | Baytown TX | 86,561 | $60K | 18.2% | 10.2% | 18% | C |
| 401 | Warner Robins GA | 87,761 | $67K | 14.2% | 6.4% | 27% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 457 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Fall River, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Fall River and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Somerset (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fall River workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall River | – | C | A | 26 min | $56,673 |
| Westport | 2% | A− | C | 29 min | $96,000 |
| North Westport | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Freetown | under 2% | A | C+ | 32 min | $143,884 |
| Somerset | 3% | A | B− | 31 min | $112,677 |
Same-state neighbors only. North Westport: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fall River’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 Fall River: questions
What is the median household income in Fall River?
$56,673 (±$3,173) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fall River?
19.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fall River?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fall River work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Bedford (5%, 9 mi), Boston (5%, 43 mi), Dartmouth (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fall River walkable?
Fall River is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.5 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fall River without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. 83% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fall River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fall River
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.