Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Lunenburg has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
There are 2,436 jobs in Lunenburg, against 5,138 working residents. For jobs and income Lunenburg is better than 77% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (B). Measured by household income, Lunenburg is ahead of 85% 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 Lunenburg, in brief
No single place dominates Lunenburg’s commute
The biggest draw, Leominster, gets only 8% of working residents, and 53% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Lunenburg residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Lunenburg workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Lunenburg has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Lunenburg went from 1,806 in 2013 to 2,436 in 2023, +35%. 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.
What’s behind Lunenburg’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Lunenburg’s grade up (4.2%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (5.0%, 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, Lunenburg could be anywhere from B to A.
8% of working residents work in Leominster
Where Lunenburg clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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.
About 36 minutes each way for Lunenburg’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lunenburg workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,214 commuters (the 16% 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.
The kinds of work in Lunenburg
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lunenburg, 2013 → 2023: 1,806 → 2,436. 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 Lunenburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lunenburg quiets down on a workday
On a workday 4,729 residents head out to work, 409 work right here, and 2,027 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,300 people are in Lunenburg on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
The distance from Lunenburg to work
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.
Few in Lunenburg walk, bike or ride to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,190 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 0.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 55% 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). 3.1% of Lunenburg households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Lunenburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Lunenburg is 912th among 2,695 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 910 | Maplewood MO | 8,033 | $65K | 8.7% | 2.0% | 6% | A− |
| 911 | Hartland WI | 10,740 | $88K | 5.2% | 4.8% | 9% | A− |
| 912 | Lunenburg MA | 12,043 | $113K | 4.2% | 5.0% | 8% | A− |
| 913 | Prairie Ridge WA | 12,074 | $114K | 3.7% | 5.8% | <1% | A− |
| 914 | Dacula GA | 9,373 | $101K | 6.6% | 4.8% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | 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 Lunenburg, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Lunenburg and its neighbors: 17% work next door
The biggest share goes to Leominster (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lunenburg workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunenburg | – | A− | B | 36 min | $112,828 |
| Fitchburg | 7% | C | A | 27 min | $73,040 |
| Leominster | 8% | B− | B+ | 26 min | $83,816 |
| Shirley | 2% | B+ | B− | 40 min | $122,365 |
| Townsend | under 2% | B− | C+ | 37 min | $121,528 |
| Ashby | under 2% | B+ | B− | 33 min | $115,598 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lunenburg’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 Lunenburg: questions
What is the median household income in Lunenburg?
$112,828 (±$11,429) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lunenburg?
4.2%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lunenburg?
36 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lunenburg work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Leominster (8%, 5 mi), Fitchburg (7%, 5 mi), Worcester (5%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lunenburg walkable?
Lunenburg is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lunenburg without a car?
4% 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 Lunenburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lunenburg
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.