Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Most of Haverhill commutes out: there are 0.6 jobs for every working resident
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.0 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 47.9 in Boston. Haverhill has 18,742 jobs, and 33,872 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Haverhill B; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Haverhill in brief
What’s behind Haverhill’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Haverhill is better than 59% of U.S. towns, #220 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Haverhill’s grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Haverhill could be anywhere from B− to B+.
The commute from Haverhill, by distance
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.
In and out of Haverhill on a workday
On a workday 28,262 residents head out to work, 5,610 work right here, and 13,132 people come in from elsewhere.
About 53,000 people are in Haverhill on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
9% of working residents work in Boston
Where Haverhill clocks in
9% of workers
5% 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.
The kinds of work in Haverhill
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Haverhill, 2013 → 2023: 18,482 → 18,742. 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 Haverhill’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes to work from Haverhill
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Haverhill workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 30,184 commuters (the 12% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Haverhill
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Haverhill is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #93 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.0% 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 34,489 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 76% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 47% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 75% 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). 8.5% of Haverhill households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Haverhill’s commuters take a bus or train.
381st of 645: where Haverhill ranks among U.S. towns of 48,000 to 92,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Newton MA | 90,741 | $190K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Somerville MA | 84,211 | $133K | 9.8% | 3.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Brookline MA | 63,414 | $142K | 8.7% | 3.6% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 379 | Country Club FL | 51,296 | $75K | 11.7% | 5.1% | 3% | B |
| 380 | East Providence RI | 48,249 | $76K | 10.1% | 5.5% | 16% | B |
| 381 | Haverhill MA | 68,361 | $88K | 11.3% | 5.7% | 17% | B |
| 382 | Smyrna TN | 63,321 | $82K | 12.5% | 5.0% | 14% | B |
| 383 | Maricopa AZ | 78,362 | $96K | 7.4% | 5.0% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 645 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Haverhill, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Work in the towns next to Haverhill
The biggest share goes to Methuen (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Haverhill workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haverhill | – | B | A | 27 min | $88,326 |
| Groveland | under 3% | A | C− | 33 min | $141,487 |
| West Newbury | under 3% | A+ | C− | 31 min | $179,500 |
| Methuen | 3% | B+ | A− | 28 min | $113,310 |
| Boxford | under 3% | A+ | B− | 31 min | $200,871 |
| Merrimac | under 3% | A | A− | 32 min | $123,054 |
| North Andover | 3% | A | A− | 32 min | $140,670 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Haverhill’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 Haverhill: questions
What is the median household income in Haverhill?
$88,326 (±$4,293) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Haverhill?
11.3%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Haverhill?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Haverhill work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (9%, 31 mi), Lawrence (5%, 7 mi), Andover (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Haverhill walkable?
Haverhill is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Haverhill without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 47% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Haverhill, from the people who make the trip.
More of Haverhill
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.