Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Southwick has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
Southwick grades A for jobs and income and C for walkability. 2,178 jobs are based in Southwick, and 4,276 of its residents work somewhere. Household incomes here are higher than in 88% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The four measures behind Southwick’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Southwick is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #69 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income is its strongest input ($120,462, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.1%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Southwick could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Southwick
On a workday 3,790 residents head out to work, 486 work right here, and 1,692 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,200 people are in Southwick 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.
14% of working residents work in Springfield
Where Southwick clocks in
14% of workers
12% 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.
What Southwick’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Southwick, 2013 → 2023: 2,268 → 2,178. 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 Southwick’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Southwick: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Southwick workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,211 commuters (the 16% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Southwick
About 16% 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.
The commute in Southwick is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Southwick is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns, #261 of 283 in Massachusetts. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 14.1% across Massachusetts.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,024 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). 4.4% of Southwick households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Southwick’s commuters take a bus or train.
Southwick places 383rd of 2,867 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 6,500 to 12,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| 32 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 381 | Watchung NJ | 6,583 | $174K | 1.2% | 6.1% | 3% | A |
| 382 | Buxton ME | 8,681 | $100K | 2.3% | 1.4% | 8% | A |
| 383 | Southwick MA | 9,305 | $120K | 4.0% | 3.1% | 11% | A |
| 384 | Fort Meade MD | 11,225 | $103K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 3% | A |
| 385 | Emerson NJ | 7,371 | $156K | 3.1% | 5.6% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,867 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Southwick, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
The towns next door employ 18% of Southwick
The biggest share goes to Westfield (12%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Southwick workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwick | – | A | C | 29 min | $120,462 |
| Agawam Town | 6% | A− | B | 22 min | $85,421 |
| Granville | under 3% | B | C | 39 min | $84,375 |
| Westfield | 12% | B+ | A | 27 min | $87,753 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Southwick’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 Southwick: questions
What is the median household income in Southwick?
$120,462 (±$16,246) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Southwick?
4.0%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Southwick?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Southwick work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (14%, 13 mi), Westfield (12%, 6 mi), Agawam Town (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Southwick walkable?
Southwick is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Southwick without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Southwick, from the people who make the trip.
More of Southwick
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.