Photo: Pvmoutside at English Wikipedia · Public domainWith 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Leicester works elsewhere
There are 2,574 jobs in Leicester; 5,870 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Leicester is better than 92% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (C+). Household incomes here are higher than in 81% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Leicester, in brief
Leicester and Worcester trade workers both ways
Worcester is the top workplace for Leicester residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Leicester come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
44% of the jobs in Leicester are in trade, transport and utilities, against 16% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Leicester has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Leicester went from 1,839 in 2013 to 2,574 in 2023, +40%. 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.
Where Leicester’s Jobs & income grade comes from
The poverty rate is its strongest input (3.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 72% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Leicester could be anywhere from A− to A+.
26% of working residents work in Worcester
Where Leicester clocks in
26% 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.
What Leicester’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Leicester, 2013 → 2023: 1,839 → 2,574. 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 Leicester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Leicester
On a workday 5,412 residents head out to work, 458 work right here, and 2,116 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,100 people are in Leicester 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 Leicester takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Leicester workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,959 commuters (the 13% 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.
Miles to work from Leicester
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.
Most trips from Leicester start in a car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,709 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 23% 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 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 71% 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). 3.0% of Leicester households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Leicester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Leicester is 344th of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 342 | Port Jefferson NY | 8,306 | $145K | 5.6% | 3.3% | 8% | A |
| 343 | Summerfield NC | 11,327 | $160K | 7.1% | 2.1% | 4% | A |
| 344 | Leicester MA | 11,428 | $105K | 3.8% | 2.4% | 8% | A |
| 345 | Palos Heights IL | 12,084 | $109K | 5.2% | 3.6% | 7% | A |
| 346 | Lafayette Township IN | 8,526 | $118K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | 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 Leicester, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
The towns around Leicester
The biggest share goes to Auburn (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Leicester’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 Leicester: questions
What is the median household income in Leicester?
$105,173 (±$9,170) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Leicester?
3.8%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Leicester?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Leicester work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Worcester (26%, 6 mi), Boston (7%, 46 mi), Auburn (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Leicester walkable?
Leicester is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Leicester 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 Leicester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Leicester
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.