West Chop Club Historic District · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0At 0.6%, unemployment in Tisbury is lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Tisbury; the top destination outside it is Oak Bluffs (19%, 3 miles). Tisbury grades B for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. The trip to work takes 21 minutes on average, where Massachusetts has 29 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Tisbury
Most Tisbury residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Tisbury are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 29 across Massachusetts. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Massachusetts worker. Time on the road ↓
A longer commute than the towns next door
Tisbury averages 21 minutes each way, more than any bordering town (10 to 17 minutes). Next door ↓
A lot of Tisbury works one town over
27% of working residents work in a town that borders Tisbury: Oak Bluffs (19%) and West Tisbury (8%). Next door ↓
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.
What’s behind Tisbury’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tisbury is better than 59% of U.S. towns, #219 of 283 in Massachusetts. Unemployment holds Tisbury’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 11% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tisbury could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
How far it is to work from Tisbury
About 21% 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.
Commuting from Tisbury: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tisbury workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,342 commuters (the 21% 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.
How many people are in Tisbury by day
On a workday 1,512 residents head out to work, 531 work right here, and 1,165 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.83 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Tisbury’s residents
Where Tisbury clocks in
19% of workers
11% of workers
8% 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.
67% of the jobs in Tisbury pay over $3,333 a month
1,696 jobs are based in Tisbury.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tisbury, 2013 → 2023: 1,324 → 1,696. 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 Tisbury’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Tisbury is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,948 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 91% 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 12.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% 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). 6.9% of Tisbury households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Tisbury’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,692 U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,700, Tisbury comes 1,650th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Hopedale MA | 6,066 | $116K | 2.9% | 1.6% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | West Newbury MA | 4,709 | $180K | 1.6% | 2.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 119 | Wenham MA | 4,952 | $195K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,648 | Hellertown PA | 6,138 | $73K | 4.8% | 8.1% | 9% | B |
| 1,649 | Sheffield Township IN | 4,013 | $81K | 26.9% | 0.7% | 13% | B |
| 1,650 | Tisbury MA | 4,934 | $74K | 7.1% | 0.6% | 26% | B |
| 1,651 | Vienna Township OH | 4,024 | $76K | 6.7% | 5.2% | 5% | B |
| 1,652 | Vancleave MS | 5,078 | $70K | 6.2% | 3.0% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,692 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Tisbury, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Bordering towns draw 27% of Tisbury’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tisbury workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tisbury | – | B | A+ | 21 min | $74,113 |
| Oak Bluffs | 19% | B− | A | 13 min | $145,196 |
| West Tisbury | 8% | B | B− | 17 min | $182,750 |
| Gosnold | under 1% | — | — | 10 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Gosnold: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Oak Bluffs. Darker towns draw more of Tisbury’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 Tisbury: questions
What is the median household income in Tisbury?
$74,113 (±$5,095) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tisbury?
7.1%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tisbury?
21 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tisbury work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oak Bluffs (19%, 3 mi), Edgartown (11%, 10 mi), West Tisbury (8%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tisbury walkable?
Tisbury is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.6 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tisbury without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tisbury, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tisbury
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.