Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Northfield commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Household incomes here are higher than in 79% of U.S. towns. Employers in Northfield report 404 jobs, and 1,609 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Northfield B; getting around on foot earns it D.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Northfield
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Northfield is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #234 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Northfield’s grade up ($103,375, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 21% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Northfield could be anywhere from C to A−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Northfield
On a workday 1,456 residents head out to work, 153 work right here, and 251 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Northfield on a workday afternoon, 42% 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.
14% of working residents work in Greenfield
Where Northfield clocks in
14% of workers
5% 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.
In Northfield, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Northfield, 2013 → 2023: 474 → 404. 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 Northfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Northfield: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Northfield workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,308 commuters (the 17% 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 many miles Northfield commutes
About 17% 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.
Getting around Northfield: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Northfield is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns, #278 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Northfield 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 1,567 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). 1.7% of Northfield households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Northfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Northfield is 2,064th of 4,882 U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 159 | Princeton MA | 3,618 | $159K | 4.2% | 0.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 249 | Millville MA | 3,186 | $127K | 4.6% | 3.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 312 | Essex MA | 3,770 | $157K | 8.1% | 1.5% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,062 | Jermyn PA | 2,109 | $63K | 7.8% | 3.6% | 3% | B |
| 2,063 | Westby WI | 2,435 | $73K | 8.0% | 2.6% | 14% | B |
| 2,064 | Northfield MA | 2,857 | $103K | 6.8% | 4.6% | 10% | B |
| 2,065 | Andover NH | 2,456 | $89K | 10.5% | 2.0% | 11% | B |
| 2,066 | Keenesburg CO | 2,107 | $84K | 10.0% | 2.1% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Northfield, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Northfield and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Gill (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Northfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northfield | – | B | D | 31 min | $103,375 |
| Gill | 3% | B | B+ | 21 min | $90,208 |
| Erving | under 3% | B− | C+ | 28 min | $77,656 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Northfield’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 Northfield: questions
What is the median household income in Northfield?
$103,375 (±$10,346) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Northfield?
6.8%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Northfield?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Northfield work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenfield (14%, 8 mi), Brattleboro (5%, 16 mi), Montague (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Northfield walkable?
Northfield is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Northfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Northfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Northfield
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.