Photo: 4300streetcar · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Somerville are higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 9.8%; Massachusetts has 10.0%. Somerville grades A for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For 31% of workers, the job is at home, where Massachusetts as a whole has 19%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Somerville stands out on work
Much of Somerville works one town over
56% of working residents work in a town that borders Somerville: Boston (35%), Cambridge (19%) and Medford (2%). Next door ↓
Most Somerville residents work close to home
82% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 3% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
78% of Somerville’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data, and so do 73% of the jobs based in Somerville. The jobs ↓
A lot of Somerville works from home
31% of Somerville workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Somerville’s working residents have a job less than 4 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 31 minutes, longer than the Massachusetts average of 29. 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.
Somerville’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Somerville is better than 89% of U.S. towns, #87 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Somerville’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Somerville could be anywhere from A− to A.
The commute from Somerville, by distance
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
31,368 jobs are based in Somerville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Somerville, 2013 → 2023: 21,222 → 31,368. 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 Somerville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 31 minutes each way, about the MA average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Somerville workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 38,312 commuters (the 31% 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.
Who commutes out of Somerville, and who commutes in
On a workday 39,575 residents head out to work, 3,492 work right here, and 27,876 people come in from elsewhere.
About 73,000 people are in Somerville on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.73 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.
35% of working residents work in Boston
Where Somerville clocks in
35% of workers
19% 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.
Somerville is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Somerville is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #2 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Somerville 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 55,800 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, 86% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 22.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 98% 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). 21.6% of Somerville households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 28% of Somerville’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Somerville is 68th of 538 U.S. towns of 59,000 to 114,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Newton MA | 90,741 | $190K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Hoover AL | 93,550 | $109K | 5.1% | 3.5% | 18% | A |
| 67 | Schaumburg IL | 77,249 | $98K | 5.7% | 3.5% | 13% | A |
| 68 | Somerville MA | 84,211 | $133K | 9.8% | 3.0% | 8% | A |
| 69 | Davis CA | 66,110 | $90K | 26.5% | 6.3% | 16% | A |
| 70 | Lehi UT | 95,313 | $131K | 5.0% | 4.0% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Brookline MA | 63,414 | $142K | 8.7% | 3.6% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 97 | Medford MA | 59,834 | $130K | 7.6% | 4.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 538 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Somerville, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Work next door: 56% of Somerville’s workers
The biggest share goes to Boston (35%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Somerville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerville | – | A | A+ | 31 min | $132,572 |
| Cambridge | 19% | A− | A+ | 26 min | $130,748 |
| Medford | 2% | A | A+ | 30 min | $129,540 |
| Arlington | under 1% | A+ | A+ | 32 min | $150,701 |
| Boston | 35% | B | A+ | 30 min | $97,344 |
| Everett | under 1% | B | A+ | 35 min | $85,218 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Somerville’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 Somerville: questions
What is the median household income in Somerville?
$132,572 (±$6,106) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Somerville?
9.8%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Somerville?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Somerville work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (35%, 6 mi), Cambridge (19%, 1 mi), Waltham (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Somerville walkable?
Somerville is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.6 out of 20, and 48% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Somerville without a car?
28% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. 86% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Somerville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Somerville
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.