Photo: Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger) · Public domainHousehold incomes in Norton top those of 90% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 5.3 in New Bedford. The poverty rate is 4.7% (Massachusetts 10.0%). Norton grades A 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
Work in Norton: the figures worth knowing
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Norton
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Norton is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #71 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income is its strongest input ($124,535, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Norton could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Half of Norton commutes less than 16 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.
Who commutes out of Norton, and who commutes in
On a workday 8,526 residents head out to work, 683 work right here, and 5,153 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Norton on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.63 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.
12% of working residents work in Boston
Where Norton clocks in
12% 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.
69% of the jobs in Norton pay over $3,333 a month
5,836 jobs are based in Norton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Norton, 2013 → 2023: 5,901 → 5,836. 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 Norton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Norton: about 33 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Norton workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,907 commuters (the 19% 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.
Norton is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Norton is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #126 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 7.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 9,756 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 23% 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 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 3.2% of Norton households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Norton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Norton is 290th among 1,760 U.S. towns of 14,000 to 26,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Westwood MA | 16,426 | $223K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Hopkinton MA | 19,866 | $223K | 2.5% | 2.3% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 288 | Avon CT | 19,096 | $154K | 4.8% | 3.8% | 10% | A |
| 289 | Westford MA | 24,853 | $187K | 3.2% | 4.8% | 11% | A |
| 290 | Norton MA | 19,559 | $125K | 4.7% | 3.6% | 7% | A |
| 291 | Aurora OH | 18,014 | $128K | 3.4% | 3.9% | 14% | A |
| 292 | Duxbury MA | 16,498 | $177K | 5.1% | 3.3% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,760 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Norton, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door to Norton
The biggest share goes to Mansfield (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Norton’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 Norton: questions
What is the median household income in Norton?
$124,535 (±$10,920) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Norton?
4.7%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Norton?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Norton work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (12%, 27 mi), Mansfield (4%, 4 mi), Taunton (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Norton walkable?
Norton is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Norton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Norton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Norton
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.