Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Marlborough has 1.9 jobs for every working resident: 31,095 people commute in to work
Jobs and income earn Marlborough B+; getting around on foot earns it A−. 34,160 jobs are based in Marlborough for 18,262 working residents. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 47.9 in Boston.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Marlborough, in brief
Marlborough is where the jobs are
Marlborough has 34,160 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Marlborough draws workers from far and wide
The 34,160 jobs in Marlborough are filled from a wide area. Marlborough’s own residents hold 9% and the ten next-biggest home towns 26%; the other 65% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Marlborough’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Marlborough is Boston, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (1,531) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs in Marlborough pay over $40,000 a year
74% of the jobs based in Marlborough pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Marlborough has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Marlborough went from 24,852 in 2013 to 34,160 in 2023, +37%. 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 Marlborough’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Marlborough is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #205 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Marlborough’s grade up (ahead of 88% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.5%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Marlborough could be anywhere from B− to A−.
The daily commute in and out of Marlborough
On a workday 15,197 residents head out to work and 3,065 work right here.
About 59,000 people are in Marlborough on a workday afternoon, 37% more 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.
Where Marlborough’s workers come from
Where Marlborough clocks in
8% 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.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
How far Marlborough goes 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.
74% of the jobs in Marlborough pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marlborough, 2013 → 2023: 24,852 → 34,160. 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 Marlborough’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Marlborough spends getting to work: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Marlborough workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 18,735 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Marlborough
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Marlborough is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #138 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.7% 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 22,370 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 34% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 9% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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). 8.1% of Marlborough households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Marlborough’s commuters take a bus or train.
Marlborough next to U.S. towns of 30,000 to 58,000: 537th of 1,011 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Shrewsbury MA | 39,627 | $139K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Arlington MA | 46,563 | $151K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 535 | Land O' Lakes FL | 38,910 | $99K | 8.3% | 5.5% | 6% | B+ |
| 536 | Rochester NH | 33,716 | $81K | 8.3% | 2.7% | 19% | B+ |
| 537 | Marlborough MA | 42,772 | $92K | 9.6% | 5.5% | 17% | B+ |
| 538 | Hilton Head Island SC | 38,196 | $95K | 8.6% | 3.0% | 56% | B+ |
| 539 | Hempfield Township PA | 41,421 | $83K | 7.4% | 4.7% | 16% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,011 | 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 Marlborough, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Work next door: 11% of Marlborough’s workers
The biggest share goes to Framingham (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Marlborough workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marlborough | – | B+ | A− | 30 min | $91,968 |
| Northborough | under 2% | A | B | 31 min | $153,199 |
| Southborough | under 2% | A | A | 32 min | $196,808 |
| Berlin | under 2% | A− | B− | 34 min | $121,336 |
| Hudson | 3% | A− | A− | 31 min | $103,400 |
| Framingham | 6% | B+ | A | 30 min | $107,419 |
| Sudbury | 2% | A | B+ | 35 min | $236,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Marlborough’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 Marlborough: questions
What is the median household income in Marlborough?
$91,968 (±$9,070) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marlborough?
9.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Marlborough?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Marlborough work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (8%, 27 mi), Framingham (6%, 6 mi), Worcester (5%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Marlborough walkable?
Marlborough is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Marlborough without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 9% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Marlborough, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marlborough
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.