Photo: Fletcher6 · CC BY-SA 3.0Saugus’ household incomes are higher than in 78% of U.S. towns
6.0% of residents are in poverty (Massachusetts 10.0%). Saugus grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.1 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
Work in Saugus: the figures worth knowing
Most Saugus residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 3% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Saugus
69% of Saugus residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 48% of the jobs based in Saugus pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Saugus draws workers from far and wide
The 9,305 jobs in Saugus are filled from a wide area. Saugus’ own residents hold 12% and the ten next-biggest home towns 33%; the other 55% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Why Saugus gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Saugus is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #97 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Saugus could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Short hops and long hauls from Saugus
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.
Inside Saugus’ 9,305 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Saugus, 2013 → 2023: 9,992 → 9,305. 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 Saugus’s own residents hold wherever they work.
24% of working residents work in Boston
Where Saugus clocks in
24% of workers
4% 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.
Who leaves Saugus for work, and who comes in
On a workday 14,346 residents head out to work, 1,110 work right here, and 8,195 people come in from elsewhere.
About 23,000 people are in Saugus on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.60 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.
About 30 minutes to work from Saugus
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Saugus workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,863 commuters (the 14% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Saugus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Saugus is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #62 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Saugus 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 15,017 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 69% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 28% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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). 5.3% of Saugus households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Saugus’ commuters take a bus or train.
309th of 1,467: where Saugus ranks among U.S. towns of 20,000 to 39,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Hingham MA | 24,481 | $178K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Lexington MA | 34,648 | $238K | 4.7% | 2.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 38 | Reading MA | 25,803 | $166K | 3.2% | 3.3% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 307 | Champlin MN | 23,125 | $116K | 7.2% | 3.6% | 5% | A |
| 308 | Rockville Centre NY | 25,770 | $152K | 4.7% | 5.8% | 8% | A |
| 309 | Saugus MA | 29,179 | $102K | 6.0% | 3.8% | 7% | A |
| 310 | Fate TX | 29,007 | $133K | 3.6% | 5.4% | 2% | A |
| 311 | Franklin WI | 36,687 | $107K | 6.7% | 3.4% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,467 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Saugus, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door to Saugus
The biggest share goes to Lynn (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Saugus’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 Saugus: questions
What is the median household income in Saugus?
$101,539 (±$3,481) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Saugus?
6.0%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Saugus?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Saugus work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (24%, 9 mi), Cambridge (4%, 8 mi), Lynn (3%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Saugus walkable?
Saugus is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.5 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Saugus without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 28% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Saugus, from the people who make the trip.
More of Saugus
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.