Photo: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Middleborough have higher incomes than those in 74% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in Middleborough for work; outside it, Boston is the main destination (12%, 32 miles). 6.2% of residents live below the poverty line (Massachusetts 10.0%). Middleborough grades B+ for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Middleborough: the gist
How Middleborough earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Middleborough’s grade up (ahead of 75% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, 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, Middleborough could be anywhere from B to A.
Miles to work from Middleborough
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.
A workday in Middleborough: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 10,631 residents head out to work, 1,541 work right here, and 6,729 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Middleborough on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.68 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.
Out of Middleborough to work: where people go
Where Middleborough clocks in
12% of workers
6% 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 Middleborough: what the 8,270 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Middleborough, 2013 → 2023: 7,217 → 8,270. 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 Middleborough’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 31 minutes each way for Middleborough’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Middleborough workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,007 commuters (the 14% 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.
Middleborough is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Middleborough is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns, #193 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 12,738 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 37% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 5% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 54% 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). 3.3% of Middleborough households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Middleborough’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Middleborough ranks: 648th of 1,516 U.S. towns of 18,000 to 34,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Hopkinton MA | 19,866 | $223K | 2.5% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Reading MA | 25,803 | $166K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 646 | Westerly RI | 23,139 | $99K | 5.2% | 4.1% | 30% | B+ |
| 647 | Benicia CA | 26,401 | $121K | 7.6% | 4.5% | 14% | B+ |
| 648 | Middleborough MA | 25,149 | $97K | 6.2% | 4.7% | 13% | B+ |
| 649 | Ramona CA | 22,634 | $107K | 6.2% | 4.1% | 14% | B+ |
| 650 | Palm City FL | 26,371 | $126K | 5.6% | 4.9% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,516 | 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 Middleborough, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Bordering towns draw 10% of Middleborough’s workers
The biggest share goes to Taunton (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Middleborough workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middleborough | – | B+ | B | 31 min | $97,056 |
| Lakeville | 2% | A | B+ | 33 min | $133,984 |
| Carver | under 2% | B+ | C− | 33 min | $91,250 |
| Bridgewater Town | 2% | A− | A | 31 min | $112,651 |
| North Lakeville | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Raynham | 2% | A− | A− | 36 min | $124,012 |
| Taunton | 4% | B− | A− | 29 min | $79,283 |
| Rochester | under 2% | A− | C− | 37 min | $120,273 |
| Plympton | under 2% | B+ | D | 33 min | $126,736 |
| Halifax | under 2% | A+ | B+ | 35 min | $118,556 |
| Wareham | under 2% | B+ | B | 28 min | $90,383 |
Same-state neighbors only. North Lakeville: 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 Middleborough’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 Middleborough: questions
What is the median household income in Middleborough?
$97,056 (±$7,431) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Middleborough?
6.2%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Middleborough?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Middleborough work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (12%, 32 mi), Plymouth (6%, 13 mi), Brockton (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Middleborough walkable?
Middleborough is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Middleborough without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 5% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Middleborough, from the people who make the trip.
More of Middleborough
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.