Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Medfield’s household incomes are among the highest in the country
Below the poverty line: 2.1% of residents, against 10.0% across Massachusetts. Measured by household income, Medfield is among the highest-earning towns in the country. Medfield grades A+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Medfield, in brief
A lot of Medfield works from home
37% of Medfield workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Medfield
78% of Medfield residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 57% of the jobs based in Medfield pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 90% leave town for their job. 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.
The four measures behind Medfield’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Medfield is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #26 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income is its strongest input ($235,800, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.1%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Medfield could be anywhere from A to A+.
The trip to work from Medfield: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Medfield workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,137 commuters (the 37% 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 Medfield
3,137 jobs are based in Medfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Medfield, 2013 → 2023: 2,682 → 3,137. 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 Medfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Medfield, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 5,536 residents head out to work, 587 work right here, and 2,550 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Medfield on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.51 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.
27% of working residents work in Boston
Where Medfield clocks in
27% 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.
Medfield’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Medfield is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Medfield is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #102 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 7.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,527 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.9% of Medfield households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 11% of Medfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Medfield ranks: 183rd of 2,526 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000
| # | 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 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Westwood MA | 16,426 | $223K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 181 | Huntertown IN | 11,600 | $109K | 3.2% | 1.4% | 4% | A+ |
| 182 | Harrison WI | 14,492 | $122K | 2.2% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 183 | Medfield MA | 13,248 | $236K | 2.1% | 4.1% | 10% | A+ |
| 184 | Linganore MD | 14,444 | $176K | 1.3% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 185 | Stansbury Park UT | 11,242 | $127K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Medfield, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Around Medfield: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Walpole (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Medfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medfield | – | A+ | A− | 32 min | $235,800 |
| Millis | under 2% | A | B− | 31 min | $155,996 |
| Millis-Clicquot | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Sherborn | under 2% | A | B+ | 35 min | $250,000+ |
| Dover | under 2% | A− | B+ | 35 min | $250,000+ |
| Walpole | 2% | A | A | 34 min | $171,500 |
| Norfolk | under 2% | A | B+ | 36 min | $200,720 |
Same-state neighbors only. Millis-Clicquot: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Medfield’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 Medfield: questions
What is the median household income in Medfield?
$235,800 (±$31,636) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Medfield?
2.1%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Medfield?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 37% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Medfield work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (27%, 18 mi), Newton (4%, 11 mi), Needham (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Medfield walkable?
Medfield is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Medfield without a car?
11% 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 Medfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Medfield
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.