Photo: Trevorwelsh · CC BY-SA 4.0Few U.S. towns have household incomes as high as Wellesley’s
Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. Below the poverty line: 4.0% of residents, where Massachusetts as a whole has 10.0%. Wellesley grades A for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Wellesley at work: what stands out
A lot of Wellesley works from home
32% of Wellesley workers work from home, against 19% across Massachusetts. Time on the road ↓
Wellesley is where the jobs are
Wellesley has 17,455 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Wellesley and Boston trade workers both ways
Boston is the top workplace for Wellesley residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Wellesley come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Wellesley draws workers from far and wide
The 17,455 jobs in Wellesley are filled from a wide area. Wellesley’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 29%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Three in four Wellesley workers earn over $40,000 a year
79% of Wellesley’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. The jobs ↓
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.
The figures behind Wellesley’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wellesley is better than 94% of U.S. towns, #45 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Wellesley’s grade up ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
The Census reports Wellesley’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wellesley could be anywhere from A to A+.
Getting to work from Wellesley takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wellesley workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,019 commuters (the 32% 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.
Wellesley by day and by night
On a workday 10,091 residents head out to work, 1,336 work right here, and 16,119 people come in from elsewhere.
About 37,000 people are in Wellesley on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Commuting in to Wellesley: where workers come from
Where Wellesley clocks in
33% of workers
8% of workers
4% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Wellesley
17,455 jobs are based in Wellesley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wellesley, 2013 → 2023: 16,252 → 17,455. 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 Wellesley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Wellesley
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.
In Wellesley, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wellesley is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns, #29 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Wellesley 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 13,267 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 74% 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 3.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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). 3.8% of Wellesley households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Wellesley’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Wellesley ranks: 131st of 1,334 U.S. towns of 22,000 to 42,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | Orange Township OH | 41,832 | $146K | 4.4% | 3.5% | 7% | A |
| 130 | Kirkwood MO | 29,331 | $121K | 5.3% | 3.1% | 7% | A |
| 131 | Wellesley MA | 31,239 | $250K | 4.0% | 4.4% | 12% | A |
| 132 | Keystone FL | 25,858 | $161K | 3.9% | 3.2% | 4% | A |
| 133 | Scarborough ME | 24,547 | $134K | 4.4% | 2.2% | 19% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,334 | 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 Wellesley, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Next door to Wellesley
The biggest share goes to Newton (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wellesley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellesley | – | A | A+ | 27 min | $250,000+ |
| Newton | 4% | A+ | A+ | 27 min | $190,304 |
| Dover | under 2% | A− | B+ | 35 min | $250,000+ |
| Needham | 2% | A | A+ | 28 min | $214,308 |
| Natick | 2% | A | A | 31 min | $138,538 |
| Weston | under 2% | A+ | A− | 27 min | $250,000+ |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wellesley’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Wellesley: questions
What is the median household income in Wellesley?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wellesley?
4.0%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wellesley?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 32% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wellesley work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (33%, 14 mi), Cambridge (8%, 10 mi), Newton (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wellesley walkable?
Wellesley is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 11.7 out of 20, and 23% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wellesley without a car?
8% 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 Wellesley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wellesley
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.