Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Households in Franklin Town earn more than those in 94% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 5.9% of residents, next to 10.0% for Massachusetts as a whole. Franklin Town grades A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.8 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
Jobs and commuting in Franklin Town: the gist
Franklin Town trades workers with the towns around it
Franklin Town has about as many jobs (15,282) as working residents (16,608), but they are mostly different people: 14,550 residents leave for work each day while 13,224 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Franklin Town are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Franklin Town draws workers from far and wide
The 15,282 jobs in Franklin Town are filled from a wide area. Franklin Town’s own residents hold 13% and the ten next-biggest home towns 24%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Franklin Town’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Franklin Town is Boston, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (2,171) 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.
Inside Franklin Town’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Franklin Town is better than 83% of U.S. towns, #133 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Franklin Town’s grade up ($145,773, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, 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, Franklin Town could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Who leaves Franklin Town for work, and who comes in
On a workday 14,550 residents head out to work, 2,058 work right here, and 13,224 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 (0.92 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.
13% of working residents work in Boston
Where Franklin Town clocks in
13% of workers
3% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Franklin Town
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.
66% of the jobs in Franklin Town pay over $3,333 a month
15,282 jobs are based in Franklin Town.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Franklin Town, 2013 → 2023: 15,579 → 15,282. 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 Franklin Town’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Franklin Town: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Franklin Town workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 13,986 commuters (the 22% 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.
In Franklin Town, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Franklin Town is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #100 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Franklin Town 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 17,950 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 34% 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 1.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 66% 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). 3.3% of Franklin Town households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Franklin Town’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Franklin Town ranks: 387th of 1,255 U.S. towns of 24,000 to 46,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Lexington MA | 34,648 | $238K | 4.7% | 2.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 35 | Reading MA | 25,803 | $166K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 385 | Upper Moreland Township PA | 25,880 | $99K | 5.4% | 4.8% | 7% | A− |
| 386 | Claremont CA | 35,838 | $126K | 6.9% | 5.1% | 18% | A− |
| 387 | Franklin Town MA | 33,955 | $146K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 12% | A− |
| 388 | Mountlake Terrace WA | 25,430 | $108K | 7.0% | 4.2% | 3% | A− |
| 389 | Marshfield MA | 26,826 | $126K | 8.7% | 3.1% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,255 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Franklin Town, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
The towns around Franklin Town
The biggest share goes to Medway (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Franklin Town workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Town | – | A− | A− | 33 min | $145,773 |
| Medway | 2% | A | B | 30 min | $173,750 |
| Norfolk | under 2% | A | B+ | 36 min | $200,720 |
| Bellingham | 2% | A− | B | 36 min | $125,307 |
| Wrentham | under 2% | A− | B+ | 32 min | $151,676 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Franklin Town’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 Franklin Town: questions
What is the median household income in Franklin Town?
$145,773 (±$9,492) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Franklin Town?
5.9%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Franklin Town?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Franklin Town work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (13%, 27 mi), Framingham (3%, 16 mi), Milford (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Franklin Town walkable?
Franklin Town is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Franklin Town without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 5% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Franklin Town, from the people who make the trip.
More of Franklin Town
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.