Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Norfolk’s household incomes are higher than in 98% of U.S. towns
2.2% of residents live below the poverty line, where Massachusetts as a whole has 10.0%. Norfolk grades A for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. At home: 33% of workers have no commute at all (Massachusetts 19%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Norfolk: the gist
A lot of Norfolk works from home
33% of Norfolk workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
Norfolk’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Norfolk is Boston, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 24% of working residents (1,303) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Norfolk workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Three in four Norfolk workers earn over $40,000 a year
77% of Norfolk’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. 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.
Inside Norfolk’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Norfolk is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #52 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Norfolk’s grade up ($200,720, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Norfolk could be anywhere from A− to A+.
A commute of about 36 minutes in Norfolk
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Norfolk workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,454 commuters (the 33% 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.
Half of Norfolk commutes less than 18 miles
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.
69% of the jobs in Norfolk pay over $3,333 a month
2,969 jobs are based in Norfolk.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Norfolk, 2013 → 2023: 3,039 → 2,969. 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 Norfolk’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Norfolk for work, and who comes in
On a workday 5,146 residents head out to work, 338 work right here, and 2,631 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,600 people are in Norfolk on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.54 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.
24% of working residents work in Boston
Where Norfolk clocks in
24% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
Most trips from Norfolk start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Norfolk is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #164 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,121 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 20% 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 4.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 0.3% of Norfolk households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Norfolk’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Norfolk ranks: 296th of 2,695 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | 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 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 294 | Tea SD | 8,019 | $120K | 4.7% | 2.0% | 10% | A |
| 295 | Woodway TX | 9,753 | $115K | 3.8% | 2.5% | 5% | A |
| 296 | Norfolk MA | 12,096 | $201K | 2.2% | 4.6% | 6% | A |
| 297 | South Londonderry Township PA | 8,940 | $112K | 6.3% | 1.3% | 4% | A |
| 298 | Upper Milford Township PA | 8,254 | $110K | 3.5% | 2.9% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Norfolk, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door to Norfolk
The biggest share goes to Walpole (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Norfolk workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk | – | A | B+ | 36 min | $200,720 |
| Walpole | 3% | A | A | 34 min | $171,500 |
| Franklin Town | 3% | A− | A− | 33 min | $145,773 |
| Millis | under 2% | A | B− | 31 min | $155,996 |
| Medway | under 2% | A | B | 30 min | $173,750 |
| Millis-Clicquot | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Wrentham | 2% | A− | B+ | 32 min | $151,676 |
| Medfield | under 2% | A+ | A− | 32 min | $235,800 |
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 Norfolk’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 Norfolk: questions
What is the median household income in Norfolk?
$200,720 (±$21,984) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Norfolk?
2.2%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Norfolk?
36 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 33% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Norfolk work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (24%, 22 mi), Cambridge (4%, 21 mi), Franklin Town (3%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Norfolk walkable?
Norfolk is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Norfolk without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Norfolk, from the people who make the trip.
More of Norfolk
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.