Photo: Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger) · Public domainWith 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Townsend works elsewhere
Jobs and income earn Townsend B−; getting around on foot earns it C+. Employers in Townsend report 1,823 jobs for 4,637 working residents. Measured by household income, Townsend is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Townsend, in a few figures
No single place dominates Townsend’s commute
The biggest draw, Boston, gets only 7% of working residents, and 60% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Townsend residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Townsend workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Townsend empties out on a workday
About 6,300 people are in Townsend on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than the 9,100 who live here: 4,300 head out to work and 1,500 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
Where Townsend’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Townsend is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #236 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Townsend’s grade up ($121,528, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (7.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Townsend could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
7% of working residents work in Boston
Where Townsend clocks in
7% 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.
About 37 minutes each way, longer than most of Massachusetts
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Townsend workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,092 commuters (the 10% 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.
In and out of Townsend on a workday
On a workday 4,274 residents head out to work, 363 work right here, and 1,460 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Townsend on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
Townsend works in goods: 33% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Townsend, 2013 → 2023: 1,822 → 1,823. 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 Townsend’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Townsend
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.
Townsend is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Townsend is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #235 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 5.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,572 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). 2.4% of Townsend households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Townsend’s commuters take a bus or train.
Townsend next to U.S. towns of 6,400 to 12,300: 1,556th of 2,855 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,554 | Middletown PA | 9,776 | $56K | 12.4% | 2.9% | 4% | B− |
| 1,555 | Wells ME | 12,094 | $88K | 6.8% | 6.2% | 18% | B− |
| 1,556 | Townsend MA | 9,143 | $122K | 8.9% | 7.2% | 8% | B− |
| 1,557 | Mayfield Township MI | 8,070 | $69K | 7.7% | 3.4% | 5% | B− |
| 1,558 | Spring Valley Lake CA | 9,483 | $83K | 7.3% | 5.0% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,855 | 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 Townsend, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door to Townsend
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Townsend’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 Townsend: questions
What is the median household income in Townsend?
$121,528 (±$22,520) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Townsend?
8.9%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Townsend?
37 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Townsend work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (7%, 42 mi), Leominster (4%, 10 mi), Fitchburg (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Townsend walkable?
Townsend is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Townsend without a car?
2% 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 Townsend, from the people who make the trip.
More of Townsend
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.