Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Hampden has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs and income earn Hampden A−; getting around on foot earns it C. 952 jobs are based in Hampden for 2,367 working residents. Measured by household income, Hampden is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Hampden, in a few figures
Hampden and Springfield trade workers both ways
Springfield is the top workplace for Hampden residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Hampden come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Hampden
67% of Hampden residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 46% of the jobs based in Hampden pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 92% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Hampden has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Hampden went from 705 in 2013 to 952 in 2023, +35%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Hampden
The poverty rate holds Hampden’s grade up (3.8%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (5.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hampden could be anywhere from B to A+.
23% of working residents work in Springfield
Where Hampden clocks in
23% of workers
5% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Hampden
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hampden, 2013 → 2023: 705 → 952. 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 Hampden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Hampden for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,188 residents head out to work, 179 work right here, and 773 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,500 people are in Hampden on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Getting to work from Hampden takes 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 Hampden workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,213 commuters (the 10% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Hampden
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.
Few in Hampden walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hampden is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #246 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,457 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 20% 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). 2.9% of Hampden households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Hampden’s commuters take a bus or train.
793rd of 3,692: where Hampden ranks among U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | West Newbury MA | 4,709 | $180K | 1.6% | 2.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 119 | Wenham MA | 4,952 | $195K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 791 | Vero Lake Estates FL | 6,559 | $83K | 5.3% | 0.0% | 2% | A− |
| 792 | Lake Goodwin WA | 5,536 | $105K | 3.5% | 2.6% | <1% | A− |
| 793 | Hampden MA | 4,960 | $105K | 3.8% | 5.0% | 8% | A− |
| 794 | Dickinson Township PA | 5,519 | $105K | 3.3% | 4.3% | 3% | A− |
| 795 | Rio Pinar FL | 4,985 | $100K | 7.8% | 3.9% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,692 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Hampden, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door to Hampden
The biggest share goes to Wilbraham (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Hampden’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 Hampden: questions
What is the median household income in Hampden?
$104,536 (±$16,485) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hampden?
3.8%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hampden?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hampden work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (23%, 7 mi), East Longmeadow (5%, 4 mi), Wilbraham (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hampden walkable?
Hampden is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hampden without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hampden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hampden
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.