Photo: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Marshfield have higher incomes than those in 90% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 8.7% of residents, next to 10.0% for Massachusetts as a whole. The two grades for Marshfield are A− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in seven stay in Marshfield for work; outside it, Boston is the main destination (13%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Marshfield stands out on work
Why Marshfield gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Marshfield is better than 83% of U.S. towns, #132 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income is its strongest input ($125,986, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Marshfield could be anywhere from B+ to A.
The daily trip from Marshfield: about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Marshfield workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,649 commuters (the 25% 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.
In and out of Marshfield on a workday
On a workday 10,135 residents head out to work, 1,805 work right here, and 4,192 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Marshfield on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.50 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Marshfield: the destinations
Where Marshfield clocks in
13% of workers
4% 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.
Jobs in Marshfield: what the 5,997 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marshfield, 2013 → 2023: 5,627 → 5,997. 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 Marshfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Marshfield
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 Marshfield start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Marshfield is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #171 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 7.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 14,153 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 19% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 2.3% of Marshfield households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Marshfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Marshfield places 439th of 1,477 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 19,000 to 36,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Hopkinton MA | 19,866 | $223K | 2.5% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Lexington MA | 34,648 | $238K | 4.7% | 2.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 437 | Franklin Town MA | 33,955 | $146K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 12% | A− |
| 438 | Mountlake Terrace WA | 25,430 | $108K | 7.0% | 4.2% | 3% | A− |
| 439 | Marshfield MA | 26,826 | $126K | 8.7% | 3.1% | 15% | A− |
| 440 | Norwood MA | 31,714 | $107K | 8.8% | 3.6% | 12% | A− |
| 441 | Warminster Township PA | 33,254 | $96K | 7.2% | 3.7% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,477 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Marshfield, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Work in the towns next to Marshfield
The biggest share goes to Norwell (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Marshfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marshfield | – | A− | B+ | 35 min | $125,986 |
| Scituate | 2% | A | A | 38 min | $136,732 |
| Norwell | 3% | A+ | B+ | 35 min | $188,699 |
| Duxbury | under 3% | A | A− | 33 min | $176,583 |
| Pembroke | 3% | A | B | 35 min | $146,285 |
| North Pembroke | under 3% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Green Harbor | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. North Pembroke and Green Harbor: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Marshfield’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 Marshfield: questions
What is the median household income in Marshfield?
$125,986 (±$8,316) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marshfield?
8.7%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Marshfield?
35 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Marshfield work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (13%, 22 mi), Quincy (4%, 18 mi), Plymouth (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Marshfield walkable?
Marshfield is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Marshfield without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Marshfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marshfield
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.