Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Lawrence (8.5%) than in 90% of U.S. towns
Lawrence grades C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 8.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 47.9 in Boston. Home is the office for 7% of workers, next to 19% for Massachusetts as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Lawrence stands out on work
Inside Lawrence’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lawrence is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #268 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Lawrence’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lawrence could be anywhere from C to C+.
About 23 minutes each way for Lawrence’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lawrence workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 39,156 commuters (the 7% 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.
Who leaves Lawrence for work, and who comes in
On a workday 28,654 residents head out to work, 8,110 work right here, and 19,201 people come in from elsewhere.
About 80,000 people are in Lawrence on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.74 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.
Out of Lawrence to work: where people go
Where Lawrence clocks in
7% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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.
What work there is in Lawrence: 27,311 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lawrence, 2013 → 2023: 20,310 → 27,311. 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 Lawrence’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Lawrence
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Lawrence
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lawrence is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #40 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Lawrence 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 42,026 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 90% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 8.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 91% 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). 20.3% of Lawrence households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Lawrence’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lawrence next to U.S. towns of 63,000 to 121,000: 421st of 497 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Newton MA | 90,741 | $190K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Somerville MA | 84,211 | $133K | 9.8% | 3.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Brookline MA | 63,414 | $142K | 8.7% | 3.6% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 419 | Waterloo IA | 66,919 | $57K | 16.6% | 5.3% | 53% | C |
| 420 | Racine WI | 77,908 | $58K | 18.2% | 6.1% | 23% | C |
| 421 | Lawrence MA | 89,320 | $60K | 17.6% | 8.5% | 22% | C |
| 422 | New Britain CT | 76,286 | $59K | 18.1% | 7.9% | 15% | C |
| 423 | Springfield IL | 112,989 | $66K | 16.8% | 6.8% | 64% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 497 | 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 Lawrence, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
15% of Lawrence works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Methuen (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lawrence workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence | – | C | A+ | 23 min | $60,433 |
| North Andover | 3% | A | A− | 32 min | $140,670 |
| Methuen | 6% | B+ | A− | 28 min | $113,310 |
| Andover | 6% | A | A | 29 min | $172,606 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lawrence’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 Lawrence: questions
What is the median household income in Lawrence?
$60,433 (±$2,529) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lawrence?
17.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lawrence?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lawrence work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (7%, 26 mi), Methuen (6%, 3 mi), Andover (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lawrence walkable?
Lawrence is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.0 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lawrence without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. 90% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lawrence, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lawrence
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.