Photo: Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger) · Public domainMaking a living in Norton Center
Employers in Norton Center report 1,288 jobs, against 1,126 working residents. Only 3% stay in Norton Center for work; outside it, Boston is the main destination (13%, 26 miles). The trip to work takes 18 minutes on average, next to 29 for Massachusetts and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Norton Center apart
Norton Center trades workers with the towns around it
Norton Center has about as many jobs (1,288) as working residents (1,126), but they are mostly different people: 1,091 residents leave for work each day while 1,253 people come in. Only 3% of the jobs in Norton Center are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Norton Center are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 29 across Massachusetts. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Massachusetts worker. Time on the road ↓
Norton Center’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Norton Center is Boston, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (151) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Nearly all the work in Norton Center is services
89% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Most jobs in Norton Center pay over $40,000 a year
72% of the jobs based in Norton Center pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The daily commute in and out of Norton Center
On a workday 1,091 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 1,253 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.14 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Massachusetts
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Norton Center workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 908 commuters (the 16% 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.
The commute from Norton Center, by distance
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Norton Center, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Norton Center, 2014 → 2024: 1,331 → 1,288. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Norton Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting out of Norton Center: the destinations
Where Norton Center clocks in
13% 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 this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Norton Center: questions
What is the median household income in Norton Center?
$119,949 (±$56,214) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Norton Center?
15.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Norton Center?
18 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Norton Center work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (13%, 26 mi), Norton (8%, 1 mi), Mansfield (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Norton Center without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Norton Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of Norton Center
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.