Shirley Shaker Village · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Lancaster have higher incomes than those in 93% of U.S. towns
For 34% of workers, the job is at home; Massachusetts has 19%. 1.4% of residents are in poverty, against 10.0% across Massachusetts. The two grades for Lancaster are A− for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Lancaster: the figures worth knowing
Home offices are common in Lancaster
34% of Lancaster workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
Lancaster’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lancaster is Boston, 35 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (311) 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.
Why Lancaster gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lancaster is better than 81% of U.S. towns, #150 of 283 in Massachusetts. The poverty rate holds Lancaster’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (6.9%, 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, Lancaster could be anywhere from B+ to A.
The daily trip from Lancaster: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lancaster workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,577 commuters (the 34% 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 Lancaster
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.
Who commutes out of Lancaster, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,259 residents head out to work, 170 work right here, and 1,921 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,800 people are in Lancaster on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
9% of working residents work in Boston
Where Lancaster clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
67% of the jobs in Lancaster pay over $3,333 a month
2,091 jobs are based in Lancaster.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lancaster, 2013 → 2023: 1,855 → 2,091. 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 Lancaster’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Driving is how Lancaster gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lancaster is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns, #180 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,879 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 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% 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). 2.2% of Lancaster households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Lancaster’s commuters take a bus or train.
764th of 2,886: where Lancaster ranks among U.S. towns of 6,400 to 12,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| 32 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 762 | Dorr Township MI | 7,918 | $98K | 4.4% | 4.2% | 7% | A− |
| 763 | Raleigh Hills OR | 6,744 | $120K | 7.0% | 4.9% | 2% | A− |
| 764 | Lancaster MA | 9,161 | $135K | 1.4% | 6.9% | 5% | A− |
| 765 | Grosse Ile Township MI | 10,409 | $127K | 4.1% | 4.6% | 8% | A− |
| 766 | Chester Township NJ | 7,795 | $242K | 2.0% | 9.1% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,886 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Lancaster, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door to Lancaster
The biggest share goes to Leominster (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lancaster workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster | – | A− | B | 32 min | $134,833 |
| Harvard | under 2% | A− | B | 32 min | $213,996 |
| Devens | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Leominster | 4% | B− | B+ | 26 min | $83,816 |
| Bolton | under 2% | A | C | 37 min | $205,449 |
| Clinton | 4% | B | B | 30 min | $89,781 |
| Sterling | under 2% | A− | B+ | 34 min | $129,063 |
Same-state neighbors only. Devens: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lancaster’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 Lancaster: questions
What is the median household income in Lancaster?
$134,833 (±$27,224) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lancaster?
1.4%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lancaster?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 34% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lancaster work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (9%, 35 mi), Worcester (7%, 16 mi), Marlborough (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lancaster walkable?
Lancaster is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lancaster without a car?
3% 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 Lancaster, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lancaster
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.