Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Phillipston (9.8%) than in 94% of U.S. towns
Only 4% work in Phillipston itself; outside it, Gardner draws the most (10%, 8 miles). Phillipston grades B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 9% of workers; Massachusetts has 19%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Phillipston at work: what stands out
Phillipston is a place people come home to
There are 176 jobs based in Phillipston, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Phillipston has about 1,000 people in it, 42% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Phillipston than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Phillipston fell from 374 in 2013 to 176 in 2023, −53%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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; with 929 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Phillipston’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Phillipston is better than 48% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Phillipston’s grade up (5.7%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Phillipston could be anywhere from C to A−.
Who commutes out of Phillipston, and who commutes in
On a workday 889 residents head out to work, 40 work right here, and 136 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Phillipston on a workday afternoon, 42% fewer than live here.
0.19 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.
Phillipston works in goods: 38% of its jobs
176 jobs are based in Phillipston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Phillipston, 2013 → 2023: 374 → 176. 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 Phillipston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Phillipston goes to work
Where Phillipston clocks in
10% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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.
How long Phillipston spends getting to work: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Phillipston workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 858 commuters (the 9% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Phillipston
About 16% 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.
The commute in Phillipston is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Phillipston is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% 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 945 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 62% 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). 1.6% of Phillipston households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Phillipston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Phillipston is 2,190th of 5,343 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 540 | Whately MA | 1,622 | $117K | 5.4% | 4.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 646 | Otis MA | 1,610 | $109K | 1.2% | 6.2% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 678 | Wales MA | 1,833 | $89K | 5.1% | 5.5% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,188 | Boronda CA | 1,351 | $63K | 10.9% | 0.7% | 1% | B− |
| 2,189 | Syracuse NE | 2,006 | $72K | 6.7% | 2.2% | 19% | B− |
| 2,190 | Phillipston MA | 1,794 | $95K | 5.7% | 9.8% | 4% | B− |
| 2,191 | Haines AK | 1,757 | $87K | 5.2% | 5.8% | — | B− |
| 2,192 | Upper Lake CA | 1,374 | $110K | 10.5% | 2.2% | 14% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Phillipston, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door is work for 11% of Phillipston
The biggest share goes to Athol (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Phillipston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phillipston | – | B− | B− | 29 min | $94,692 |
| Templeton | 5% | C+ | C+ | 28 min | $101,154 |
| Athol | 6% | C− | A | 27 min | $69,316 |
| Royalston | under 3% | B− | D− | 38 min | $102,109 |
| Petersham | under 3% | B | D | 39 min | $110,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Phillipston’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 Phillipston: questions
What is the median household income in Phillipston?
$94,692 (±$13,697) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Phillipston?
5.7%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Phillipston?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Phillipston work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gardner (10%, 8 mi), Worcester (6%, 26 mi), Athol (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Phillipston walkable?
Phillipston is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Phillipston without a car?
1% 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 Phillipston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Phillipston
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.