Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Middlefield has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Only 3% stay in Middlefield for work; outside it, Northampton is the main destination (10%, 18 miles). Middlefield has 43 jobs for 178 working residents. A typical one-way commute lasts 30 minutes; Massachusetts averages 29, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Middlefield quiets down on a workday
On a workday 173 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 38 people come in from elsewhere.
About 260 people are in Middlefield on a workday afternoon, 34% 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.
Where Middlefield goes to work
Where Middlefield clocks in
10% of workers
8% 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.
What Middlefield’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Middlefield, 2013 → 2023: 31 → 43. 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 Middlefield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Middlefield: 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 Middlefield workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 191 commuters (the 13% 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.
How far it is to work from Middlefield
About 27% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
How Middlefield compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Worthington (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Middlefield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middlefield | – | — | — | 30 min | $103,750 |
| Becket | under 3% | C+ | C+ | 36 min | $80,417 |
| Worthington | 5% | B− | B− | 41 min | $91,667 |
| Peru | under 3% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Chester | under 3% | B | C− | 32 min | $89,390 |
| Washington | under 3% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Peru and Washington: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Middlefield’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 Middlefield: questions
What is the median household income in Middlefield?
$103,750 (±$23,168) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Middlefield?
12.2%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Middlefield?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Middlefield work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Northampton (10%, 18 mi), Pittsfield (8%, 13 mi), Worthington (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Middlefield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Middlefield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Middlefield
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.