Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Quincy has higher unemployment (6.9%) than 82% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Quincy itself; outside it, Boston draws the most (37%, 5 miles). Jobs and income earn Quincy B; getting around on foot earns it A+. Household incomes here are higher than in 76% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Quincy
Quincy trades workers with the towns around it
Quincy has about as many jobs (45,443) as working residents (50,350), but they are mostly different people: 43,536 residents leave for work each day while 38,629 people come in. Only 15% of the jobs in Quincy are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Quincy works one town over
42% of working residents work in a town that borders Quincy: Boston (37%), Braintree Town (3%) and Weymouth Town (2%). Next door ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Quincy’s working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 35 minutes, longer than the Massachusetts average of 29. Time on the road ↓
Most Quincy residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 4% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Most jobs in Quincy pay over $40,000 a year
72% of the jobs based in Quincy 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The four measures behind Quincy’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Quincy is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #210 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Quincy’s grade up (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Quincy could be anywhere from B to B+.
Who leaves Quincy for work, and who comes in
On a workday 43,536 residents head out to work, 6,814 work right here, and 38,629 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.
Quincy’s commute takes about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Quincy workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 44,950 commuters (the 21% 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 Quincy 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
45,443 jobs are based in Quincy.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Quincy, 2013 → 2023: 44,008 → 45,443. 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 Quincy’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting out of Quincy: the destinations
Where Quincy clocks in
37% of workers
6% 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.
Quincy is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Quincy is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #10 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Quincy near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 57,038 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, 75% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 14.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 14.1% of Quincy households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 21% of Quincy’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Out of 420 U.S. towns of 72,000 to 139,000, Quincy comes 200th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Newton MA | 90,741 | $190K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Somerville MA | 84,211 | $133K | 9.8% | 3.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Cambridge MA | 122,588 | $131K | 12.8% | 3.4% | 32% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 198 | Napa CA | 76,562 | $106K | 8.5% | 5.7% | 30% | B |
| 199 | Evanston IL | 76,380 | $96K | 11.8% | 6.2% | 18% | B |
| 200 | Quincy MA | 103,173 | $99K | 10.6% | 6.9% | 14% | B |
| 201 | Buckeye AZ | 125,445 | $99K | 8.0% | 4.9% | 8% | B |
| 202 | Wyoming MI | 78,588 | $74K | 10.5% | 4.1% | 15% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 420 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Quincy, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Work next door: 42% of Quincy’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Quincy workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quincy | – | B | A+ | 35 min | $98,882 |
| Randolph Town | under 2% | B+ | A+ | 37 min | $109,573 |
| Braintree Town | 3% | A | A+ | 33 min | $122,214 |
| Boston | 37% | B | A+ | 30 min | $97,344 |
| Weymouth Town | 2% | A− | A | 35 min | $102,714 |
| Milton | under 2% | A | A+ | 31 min | $188,529 |
| Hull | under 2% | A− | A+ | 33 min | $115,485 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Boston. Darker towns draw more of Quincy’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 Quincy: questions
What is the median household income in Quincy?
$98,882 (±$4,519) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Quincy?
10.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Quincy?
35 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Quincy work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (37%, 5 mi), Cambridge (6%, 10 mi), Braintree Town (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Quincy walkable?
Quincy is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.9 out of 20, and 24% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Quincy without a car?
21% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. 75% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Quincy, from the people who make the trip.
More of Quincy
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.