Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Royalston has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
102 jobs are based in Royalston for 633 working residents. Royalston grades B− for jobs and income and D− for walkability. Measured by household income, Royalston is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Royalston stands out on work
Royalston is a place people come home to
There are 102 jobs based in Royalston, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Royalston has about 770 people in it, 41% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Royalston workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 38 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 291 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (27 to 33 minutes). Time on the road ↓
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 633 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Royalston’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Royalston is better than 47% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Royalston’s grade up ($102,109, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (5.5%) is left out: Royalston’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Royalston could be anywhere from C+ to B.
In and out of Royalston on a workday
On a workday 597 residents head out to work, 36 work right here, and 66 people come in from elsewhere.
About 770 people are in Royalston on a workday afternoon, 41% 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.
Each way, about 38 minutes from Royalston
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Royalston workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 598 commuters (the 11% 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.
8% of working residents work in Athol
Where Royalston clocks in
8% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Royalston
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Royalston, 2013 → 2023: 80 → 102. 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 Royalston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Royalston, by distance
About 22% 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.
Getting around Royalston: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Royalston is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Royalston 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 670 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). 2.1% of Royalston households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Royalston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Royalston next to U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800: 2,020th of 5,400 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 435 | Whately MA | 1,622 | $117K | 5.4% | 4.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 524 | Otis MA | 1,610 | $109K | 1.2% | 6.2% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 588 | Westhampton MA | 1,618 | $100K | 6.5% | 7.7% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,018 | Johnson City KS | 1,402 | $71K | 1.7% | 1.3% | 35% | B− |
| 2,019 | Garfield Township IL | 1,452 | $88K | 16.0% | 12.8% | 4% | B− |
| 2,020 | Royalston MA | 1,297 | $102K | 11.8% | 5.5% | 6% | B− |
| 2,021 | Stiles WI | 1,553 | $81K | 10.6% | 0.5% | 2% | B− |
| 2,022 | Buena Vista WI | 1,145 | $68K | 4.7% | 1.8% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Royalston, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
The towns next door employ 12% of Royalston
The biggest share goes to Athol (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Royalston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalston | – | B− | D− | 38 min | $102,109 |
| Orange | 4% | D | B+ | 33 min | $55,824 |
| Athol | 8% | C− | A | 27 min | $69,316 |
| Winchendon | under 3% | C− | B+ | 32 min | $75,690 |
| Phillipston | under 3% | B− | B− | 29 min | $94,692 |
| Templeton | under 3% | C+ | C+ | 28 min | $101,154 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Royalston’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 Royalston: questions
What is the median household income in Royalston?
$102,109 (±$7,690) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Royalston?
11.8%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Royalston?
38 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Royalston work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Athol (8%, 8 mi), Gardner (6%, 12 mi), Worcester (6%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Royalston walkable?
Royalston is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 2.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Royalston without a car?
0% 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 Royalston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Royalston
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.