Photo: Tim Pierce · CC BY 3.0Littleton’s household incomes are higher than in 95% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income A: better than 86% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #112 of 283 in Massachusetts.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns · #156 of 283 in Massachusetts.
Working residents average 33 minutes each way (Massachusetts 29, U.S. 26). Only 7% work in Littleton; the top destination outside it is Boston (14%, 28 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Littleton
Littleton draws workers from far and wide
The 6,580 jobs in Littleton are filled from a wide area. Littleton’s own residents hold 6% and the ten next-biggest home towns 25%; the other 69% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Littleton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Littleton is Boston, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (707) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Three in four Littleton workers earn over $40,000 a year
78% of Littleton’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. 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.
What’s behind Littleton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Littleton is better than 86% of U.S. towns, #112 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Littleton’s grade up ($149,722, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Littleton could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
14% of working residents work in Boston
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Littleton clocks in
14% of workers
6% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Littleton commutes less than 16 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
67% of the jobs in Littleton pay over $3,333 a month
6,580 jobs are based in Littleton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Littleton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Littleton, 2013 → 2023: 7,642 → 6,580. 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.
Littleton fills up on a workday
On a workday 4,765 residents head out to work, 384 work right here, and 6,196 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Littleton on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 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.
About 33 minutes each way, longer than most of Massachusetts
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Littleton workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,089 commuters (the 23% who work from home are left out). Across Massachusetts: 75% drive alone, 8% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Most trips from Littleton start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Littleton is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #156 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Littleton 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 5,298 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 14% 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 1.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 59% 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). 3.7% of Littleton households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Littleton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Littleton is 613th of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Littleton, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 611 | Champaign Township IL | 11,377 | $100K | 5.8% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| 612 | Mahomet IL | 10,516 | $119K | 3.8% | 3.5% | 11% | A |
| 613 | Littleton MA | 10,404 | $150K | 5.6% | 4.8% | 7% | A |
| 614 | West Bridgewater MA | 7,872 | $123K | 5.0% | 4.7% | 10% | A |
| 615 | South Patrick Shores FL | 7,030 | $86K | 3.3% | 1.0% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | 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.
Littleton and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Acton (5%). Darker towns draw more of Littleton’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Littleton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Littleton | – | A | B+ | 33 min | $149,722 |
| Ayer | under 3% | B | A | 33 min | $101,875 |
| Boxborough | under 3% | A | B | 30 min | $144,611 |
| Westford | 4% | A | B | 31 min | $187,198 |
| Acton | 5% | A | A− | 35 min | $158,230 |
| Groton | under 3% | A− | B+ | 32 min | $192,958 |
| Harvard | under 3% | A− | B | 32 min | $213,996 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Littleton: questions
What is the median household income in Littleton?
$149,722 (±$31,172) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Littleton?
5.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Littleton?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Littleton work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (14%, 28 mi), Cambridge (6%, 22 mi), Acton (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Littleton walkable?
Littleton is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Littleton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Littleton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Littleton
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.