Photo: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Rochester works elsewhere
Household incomes here are higher than in 88% of U.S. towns. Rochester has 1,169 jobs; 2,540 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Rochester are A− for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Rochester and work: the main findings
Inside Rochester’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rochester is better than 84% of U.S. towns, #129 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income is its strongest input ($120,273, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns). 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, Rochester could be anywhere from B to A+.
Commuting from Rochester: about 37 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rochester workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,902 commuters (the 8% 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.
A workday in Rochester: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,323 residents head out to work, 217 work right here, and 952 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,600 people are in Rochester on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
13% of working residents work in New Bedford
Where Rochester clocks in
13% 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.
71% of the jobs in Rochester pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rochester, 2013 → 2023: 877 → 1,169. 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 Rochester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Rochester commutes
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.
Getting around Rochester: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rochester is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns, #274 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Rochester 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 3,163 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.4% of Rochester households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Rochester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Rochester is 612th among 3,336 U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | West Newbury MA | 4,709 | $180K | 1.6% | 2.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 610 | North Riverside IL | 7,161 | $77K | 7.9% | 2.4% | 2% | A− |
| 611 | Chesapeake Beach MD | 6,466 | $139K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 6% | A− |
| 612 | Rochester MA | 5,956 | $120K | 5.4% | 3.2% | 9% | A− |
| 613 | Licking Township OH | 4,996 | $92K | 7.0% | 2.0% | 3% | A− |
| 614 | Kensington CA | 5,179 | $237K | 3.6% | 7.6% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,336 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Rochester, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
16% of Rochester works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Wareham (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rochester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester | – | A− | C− | 37 min | $120,273 |
| Wareham | 6% | B+ | B | 28 min | $90,383 |
| Mattapoisett | 3% | A+ | B− | 29 min | $130,241 |
| Marion | 4% | B | A− | 34 min | $143,092 |
| West Wareham | under 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Middleborough | 3% | B+ | B | 31 min | $97,056 |
| Acushnet | under 3% | A− | C+ | 28 min | $89,503 |
Same-state neighbors only. West Wareham: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rochester’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 Rochester: questions
What is the median household income in Rochester?
$120,273 (±$11,939) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rochester?
5.4%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rochester?
37 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rochester work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Bedford (13%, 9 mi), Wareham (6%, 7 mi), Boston (5%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rochester walkable?
Rochester is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rochester 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 Rochester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rochester
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.