Photo: Pvmoutside · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Groton top those of 98% of U.S. towns
For 28% of workers, the job is at home (Massachusetts 19%). 3.8% of residents are in poverty, next to 10.0% for Massachusetts as a whole. Jobs and income earn Groton A−; getting around on foot earns it B+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Groton: the gist
Groton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Groton is Boston, 34 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (566) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Home offices are common in Groton
28% of Groton workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
Three in four Groton workers earn over $40,000 a year
76% of Groton’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
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.
How Groton earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Groton is better than 85% of U.S. towns, #118 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Groton’s grade up ($192,958, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.3%, 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, Groton could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
How far it is to work from Groton
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.
About 32 minutes to work from Groton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Groton workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,016 commuters (the 27% 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.
66% of the jobs in Groton pay over $3,333 a month
3,126 jobs are based in Groton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Groton, 2013 → 2023: 3,244 → 3,126. 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 Groton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Groton quiets down on a workday
On a workday 4,929 residents head out to work, 502 work right here, and 2,624 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,200 people are in Groton on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.58 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.
10% of working residents work in Boston
Where Groton clocks in
10% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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 Groton, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Groton is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #165 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 6.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,539 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 41% 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). 1.9% of Groton households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Groton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000, Groton ranks 652nd of 2,695 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 650 | Hatboro PA | 8,593 | $113K | 4.4% | 5.6% | 4% | A− |
| 651 | Port Washington WI | 12,658 | $82K | 6.7% | 1.7% | 17% | A− |
| 652 | Groton MA | 11,541 | $193K | 3.8% | 5.3% | 9% | A− |
| 653 | Woodland Park NJ | 13,623 | $99K | 3.8% | 5.6% | 6% | A− |
| 654 | Mount Joy PA | 8,319 | $90K | 9.1% | 1.3% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Groton, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door to Groton
The biggest share goes to Westford (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Groton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groton | – | A− | B+ | 32 min | $192,958 |
| Shirley | under 3% | B+ | B− | 40 min | $122,365 |
| Pepperell | under 3% | A− | C | 34 min | $124,073 |
| Ayer | under 3% | B | A | 33 min | $101,875 |
| Dunstable | under 3% | A | D | 34 min | $208,512 |
| Westford | 4% | A | B | 31 min | $187,198 |
| Tyngsborough | under 3% | A− | C− | 24 min | $129,348 |
| Littleton | under 3% | A | B+ | 33 min | $149,722 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Groton’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 Groton: questions
What is the median household income in Groton?
$192,958 (±$27,062) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Groton?
3.8%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Groton?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Groton work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (10%, 34 mi), Westford (4%, 7 mi), Cambridge (4%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Groton walkable?
Groton is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Groton without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Groton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Groton
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.