Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0There are 1.8 jobs in Northampton for every working resident, and 16,603 people commute in
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 47.9 in Boston. 20,320 jobs are based in Northampton for 11,500 working residents. Northampton grades B− 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
The work figures that set Northampton apart
Northampton is where the jobs are
Northampton has 20,320 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Northampton are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 29 across Massachusetts. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Massachusetts worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
What’s behind Northampton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Northampton is better than 47% of U.S. towns, #249 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Northampton’s grade up (ahead of 68% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Northampton could be anywhere from C+ to B.
The workday shuffle in and out of Northampton
On a workday 7,783 residents head out to work and 3,717 work right here.
About 40,000 people are in Northampton on a workday afternoon, 28% more than live here.
1.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
The trip to work from Northampton: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Northampton workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,708 commuters (the 24% 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.
Commuting in to Northampton: where workers come from
Where Northampton clocks in
8% of workers
8% 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.
What Northampton’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Northampton, 2013 → 2023: 16,267 → 20,320. 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 Northampton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Northampton’s workers travel
About 19% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Northampton
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Northampton is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #37 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Northampton near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 15,433 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 66% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 23% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 87% 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). 10.2% of Northampton households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Northampton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 22,000 to 42,000, Northampton ranks 962nd of 1,334 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Lexington MA | 34,648 | $238K | 4.7% | 2.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 38 | Reading MA | 25,803 | $166K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 960 | Yarmouth MA | 25,225 | $86K | 9.5% | 6.1% | 18% | B− |
| 961 | Hurricane UT | 25,745 | $75K | 9.0% | 3.9% | 23% | B− |
| 962 | Northampton MA | 31,047 | $80K | 13.4% | 5.5% | 32% | B− |
| 963 | Manitowoc WI | 34,671 | $64K | 12.6% | 3.7% | 48% | B− |
| 964 | Laramie WY | 32,284 | $56K | 22.5% | 4.0% | 67% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,334 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Northampton, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Northampton and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Hadley (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Northampton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northampton | – | B− | A+ | 21 min | $80,288 |
| Hadley | 3% | B+ | A− | 20 min | $119,259 |
| Easthampton | 3% | B | A | 22 min | $71,673 |
| Hatfield | under 2% | A− | B | 20 min | $89,005 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Northampton’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 Northampton: questions
What is the median household income in Northampton?
$80,288 (±$6,084) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Northampton?
13.4%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Northampton?
21 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Northampton work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (8%, 16 mi), Amherst Town (8%, 9 mi), Boston (4%, 85 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Northampton walkable?
Northampton is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 17% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Northampton without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 23% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Northampton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Northampton
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.