Photo: Nick Allen · CC BY-SA 4.0At 6.2%, unemployment in Leominster is higher than in 76% of U.S. towns
11% of workers have no commute at all, where Massachusetts as a whole has 19%. The two grades for Leominster are B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in five work in Leominster; the top destination outside it is Fitchburg (7%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Leominster
How Leominster earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Leominster is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #235 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Leominster’s grade up (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Leominster could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Leominster
On a workday 14,941 residents head out to work, 3,955 work right here, and 13,865 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.94 per resident).
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 Leominster to work: where people go
Where Leominster clocks in
7% of workers
5% 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.
Inside Leominster’s 17,820 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Leominster, 2013 → 2023: 16,143 → 17,820. 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 Leominster’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Leominster 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 Leominster workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 20,267 commuters (the 11% 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.
How many miles Leominster commutes
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.
Driving is how Leominster gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Leominster is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #153 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% 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 22,754 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 49% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 79% 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). 8.0% of Leominster households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Leominster’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 31,000 to 60,000, Leominster ranks 650th of 1,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Lexington MA | 34,648 | $238K | 4.7% | 2.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Shrewsbury MA | 39,627 | $139K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Arlington MA | 46,563 | $151K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 648 | Des Moines WA | 33,032 | $92K | 12.1% | 7.5% | 4% | B− |
| 649 | Douglasville GA | 41,523 | $79K | 10.7% | 6.0% | 8% | B− |
| 650 | Leominster MA | 44,194 | $84K | 9.2% | 6.2% | 21% | B− |
| 651 | Sheboygan WI | 49,376 | $63K | 12.3% | 2.7% | 38% | B− |
| 652 | Chillum MD | 34,871 | $80K | 12.4% | 6.6% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,000 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Leominster, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Around Leominster: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Leominster workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leominster | – | B− | B+ | 26 min | $83,816 |
| Fitchburg | 7% | C | A | 27 min | $73,040 |
| Lunenburg | 1% | A− | B | 36 min | $112,828 |
| Lancaster | under 2% | A− | B | 32 min | $134,833 |
| Princeton | under 2% | A+ | B− | 37 min | $158,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Fitchburg. Darker towns draw more of Leominster’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 Leominster: questions
What is the median household income in Leominster?
$83,816 (±$6,939) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Leominster?
9.2%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Leominster?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Leominster work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fitchburg (7%, 6 mi), Worcester (5%, 18 mi), Boston (5%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Leominster walkable?
Leominster is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Leominster without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Leominster, from the people who make the trip.
More of Leominster
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.