Photo: Connor Williams · CC BY 2.0Wellfleet has higher unemployment (9.0%) than 92% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 47.9 in Boston. Jobs and income earn Wellfleet C+; getting around on foot earns it A. Measured by household income, Wellfleet is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Wellfleet in brief
Wellfleet’s workforce skews older
42% of Wellfleet’s working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. The jobs ↓
Wellfleet workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (19 to 30 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Wellfleet has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Wellfleet went from 730 in 2013 to 982 in 2023, +35%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Wellfleet’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wellfleet is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #263 of 283 in Massachusetts. Household income holds Wellfleet’s grade up ($117,938, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wellfleet could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The 982 jobs based in Wellfleet
982 jobs are based in Wellfleet.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wellfleet, 2013 → 2023: 730 → 982. 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 Wellfleet’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Wellfleet: about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wellfleet workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,352 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Wellfleet
About 32% 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.
How a workday changes Wellfleet
On a workday 896 residents head out to work, 304 work right here, and 678 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 (0.82 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.
7% of working residents work in Provincetown
Where Wellfleet clocks in
7% of workers
7% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Wellfleet
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wellfleet is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #73 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Wellfleet 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 1,705 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 43% 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 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 67% 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). 8.8% of Wellfleet households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Wellfleet’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wellfleet next to U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000: 2,868th of 4,318 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | West Newbury MA | 4,709 | $180K | 1.6% | 2.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Wenham MA | 4,952 | $195K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Avon MA | 4,861 | $131K | 4.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,866 | Throop PA | 4,113 | $57K | 14.7% | 5.3% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,867 | Monroe Township IN | 3,847 | $54K | 16.9% | 0.6% | 39% | C+ |
| 2,868 | Wellfleet MA | 3,707 | $118K | 9.2% | 9.0% | 25% | C+ |
| 2,869 | Otsego Lake Township MI | 2,968 | $73K | 10.2% | 4.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,870 | Suttons Bay Township MI | 2,959 | $116K | 10.3% | 10.5% | 23% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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 Wellfleet, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Wellfleet and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Eastham (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wellfleet workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellfleet | – | C+ | A | 35 min | $117,938 |
| Eastham | 5% | C− | A | 19 min | $72,992 |
| North Eastham | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Truro | 4% | B | B− | 30 min | $118,984 |
Same-state neighbors only. North Eastham: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wellfleet’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 Wellfleet: questions
What is the median household income in Wellfleet?
$117,938 (±$27,498) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wellfleet?
9.2%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wellfleet?
35 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wellfleet work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Provincetown (7%, 13 mi), Boston (7%, 58 mi), Orleans (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wellfleet walkable?
Wellfleet is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wellfleet without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wellfleet, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wellfleet
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.