Photo: Public domain · Public domainHousehold incomes in Oxford top those of 80% of U.S. towns
About one in ten stay in Oxford for work; outside it, Worcester is the main destination (20%, 10 miles). 7.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.0% across Massachusetts. Oxford grades B+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Oxford, in a few figures
Oxford trades workers with the towns around it
Oxford has about as many jobs (6,084) as working residents (6,773), but they are mostly different people: 6,140 residents leave for work each day while 5,451 people come in. Only 10% of the jobs in Oxford are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Oxford makes and builds things
47% of the jobs based in Oxford are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Oxford residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 19%. The jobs ↓
Oxford and Worcester trade workers both ways
Worcester is the top workplace for Oxford residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Oxford come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Oxford has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Oxford went from 4,399 in 2013 to 6,084 in 2023, +38%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Oxford
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oxford is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #199 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Oxford’s grade up ($103,862, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.8%, 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, Oxford could be anywhere from B− to A.
Oxford by day and by night
On a workday 6,140 residents head out to work, 633 work right here, and 5,451 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 (0.90 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Oxford works in goods: 47% of its jobs
6,084 jobs are based in Oxford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oxford, 2013 → 2023: 4,399 → 6,084. 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 Oxford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Oxford’s residents
Where Oxford clocks in
20% 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.
About 28 minutes to work from Oxford
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oxford workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,612 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.
How far Oxford goes to work
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.
For most of Oxford, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oxford is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #228 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 14.1% across Massachusetts.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,713 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 49% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 54% 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). 5.7% of Oxford households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Oxford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,526 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000, Oxford comes 1,121st on jobs and income
| # | 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 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Westwood MA | 16,426 | $223K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,119 | Fairburn GA | 17,133 | $92K | 17.5% | 3.2% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,120 | Nantucket MA | 14,758 | $140K | 3.2% | 4.3% | 68% | B+ |
| 1,121 | Oxford MA | 13,514 | $104K | 7.7% | 5.8% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,122 | Templeton CA | 9,580 | $117K | 4.2% | 5.7% | 13% | B+ |
| 1,123 | New Richmond WI | 10,988 | $88K | 10.5% | 2.9% | 18% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | 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 Oxford, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
The towns around Oxford
The biggest share goes to Auburn (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oxford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxford | – | B+ | B− | 28 min | $103,862 |
| Millbury | under 2% | A | B− | 29 min | $118,790 |
| Auburn | 5% | A | B | 26 min | $116,711 |
| Charlton | 2% | A+ | C− | 33 min | $117,587 |
| Sutton | under 2% | A | C | 30 min | $147,125 |
| Dudley | under 2% | B+ | B | 27 min | $84,604 |
| Douglas | under 2% | A | C | 34 min | $152,267 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Oxford’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 Oxford: questions
What is the median household income in Oxford?
$103,862 (±$10,053) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oxford?
7.7%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oxford?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oxford work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Worcester (20%, 10 mi), Auburn (5%, 5 mi), Boston (5%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oxford walkable?
Oxford is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oxford without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oxford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oxford
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.