Photo: Fletcher · CC BY 4.0Peabody’s household incomes are higher than in 74% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 7.7%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts. Peabody grades A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 47.9 in Boston.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The figures behind Peabody’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Peabody is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #172 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Peabody’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Peabody could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Who leaves Peabody for work, and who comes in
On a workday 22,209 residents head out to work, 3,371 work right here, and 18,051 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 (0.84 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.
15% of working residents work in Boston
Where Peabody clocks in
15% of workers
6% 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.
The 21,422 jobs based in Peabody
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Peabody, 2013 → 2023: 20,305 → 21,422. 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 Peabody’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes each way, quicker than most of Massachusetts
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Peabody workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 24,491 commuters (the 10% 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 distance from Peabody 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.
Peabody is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Peabody is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #115 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.3% 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 27,310 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 54% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 18% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 72% 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). 8.5% of Peabody households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Peabody’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 797 U.S. towns of 39,000 to 76,000, Peabody comes 312th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Shrewsbury MA | 39,627 | $139K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Arlington MA | 46,563 | $151K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Billerica MA | 42,632 | $148K | 5.4% | 3.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 310 | Marana AZ | 65,523 | $113K | 4.9% | 4.5% | 13% | A− |
| 311 | Laguna Niguel CA | 64,107 | $140K | 6.4% | 7.1% | 6% | A− |
| 312 | Peabody MA | 55,953 | $97K | 7.7% | 4.9% | 13% | A− |
| 313 | Beverly MA | 43,363 | $106K | 9.4% | 4.4% | 19% | A− |
| 314 | Arcadia CA | 54,117 | $114K | 8.6% | 5.7% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 797 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Peabody, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Work next door: 15% of Peabody’s workers
The biggest share goes to Danvers (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Peabody workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peabody | – | A− | A− | 26 min | $96,657 |
| Danvers | 6% | A | A | 28 min | $125,395 |
| Middleton | under 2% | A | C+ | 30 min | $167,402 |
| Salem | 5% | B | A+ | 29 min | $85,153 |
| Lynnfield | under 2% | A+ | B+ | 32 min | $175,265 |
| Lynn | 4% | B | A+ | 32 min | $75,043 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Peabody’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 Peabody: questions
What is the median household income in Peabody?
$96,657 (±$3,634) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Peabody?
7.7%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Peabody?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Peabody work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (15%, 14 mi), Danvers (6%, 3 mi), Beverly (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Peabody walkable?
Peabody is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Peabody without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 18% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Peabody, from the people who make the trip.
More of Peabody
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.