Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Gloucester (6.5%) is higher than in 78% of U.S. towns
About one in three stay in Gloucester for work; outside it, Boston is the main destination (11%, 26 miles). Gloucester grades B− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.4 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
What stands out about work in Gloucester
Gloucester’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Gloucester is Boston, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (1,478) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Gloucester are quick
The average trip to work takes 24 minutes, against 29 across Massachusetts. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Massachusetts worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Gloucester’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Gloucester is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #242 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Gloucester’s grade up (ahead of 66% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gloucester could be anywhere from C+ to B.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Gloucester
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.
Time on the road from Gloucester: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gloucester workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 13,227 commuters (the 13% 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.
Gloucester by day and by night
On a workday 9,430 residents head out to work, 4,151 work right here, and 5,745 people come in from elsewhere.
About 27,000 people are in Gloucester on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.73 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.
Commuting out of Gloucester: the destinations
Where Gloucester clocks in
11% of workers
8% 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.
In Gloucester, 31% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
9,896 jobs are based in Gloucester.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gloucester, 2013 → 2023: 9,060 → 9,896. 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 Gloucester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Gloucester 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, Gloucester is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #45 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Gloucester 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 15,150 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 80% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 44% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 77% 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). 7.5% of Gloucester households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Gloucester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Gloucester next to U.S. towns of 21,000 to 41,000: 963rd of 1,415 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 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Lexington MA | 34,648 | $238K | 4.7% | 2.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 40 | Reading MA | 25,803 | $166K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 961 | Juneau AK | 31,609 | $102K | 8.9% | 4.0% | — | B− |
| 962 | New Smyrna Beach FL | 33,182 | $84K | 8.2% | 5.2% | 20% | B− |
| 963 | Gloucester MA | 30,627 | $84K | 9.6% | 6.5% | 31% | B− |
| 964 | Columbia Heights MN | 22,482 | $74K | 16.3% | 5.5% | 4% | B− |
| 965 | Leavenworth KS | 37,012 | $73K | 11.7% | 4.8% | 31% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,415 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Gloucester, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
The towns around Gloucester
The biggest share goes to Rockport (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gloucester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gloucester | – | B− | A+ | 24 min | $83,883 |
| Manchester-by-the-Sea | under 2% | A− | A | 30 min | $206,389 |
| Rockport | 2% | B− | A | 30 min | $96,250 |
| Essex | 2% | A | A | 25 min | $157,147 |
| Ipswich | 2% | A | A− | 29 min | $138,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Gloucester’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 Gloucester: questions
What is the median household income in Gloucester?
$83,883 (±$5,521) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gloucester?
9.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gloucester?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gloucester work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (11%, 26 mi), Beverly (8%, 10 mi), Danvers (3%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gloucester walkable?
Gloucester is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.5 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gloucester without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 44% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gloucester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gloucester
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.