Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs, income and commuting in West Chatham, MA
Working residents average 21 minutes each way; Massachusetts averages 29, the U.S. 26. Only 4% work in West Chatham itself; outside it, Chatham draws the most (25%, 6 miles). There are 491 jobs in West Chatham, and 527 of its residents work somewhere.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in West Chatham: the gist
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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 ↓
Commutes from West Chatham 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 ↓
West Chatham’s workforce skews older
39% of West Chatham’s working residents are 55 or older. 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; with 527 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where in the region West Chatham works
About 31% 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.
Time on the road from West Chatham: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Chatham workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 434 commuters (the 20% 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.
Jobs in West Chatham: what the 491 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Chatham, 2013 → 2023: 382 → 491. 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 West Chatham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in West Chatham by day
On a workday 507 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 471 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 (0.93 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.
Where people from West Chatham work
Where West Chatham clocks in
25% of workers
10% of workers
9% 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 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 West Chatham: questions
What is the poverty rate in West Chatham?
22.0%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Chatham?
21 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Chatham work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chatham (25%, 6 mi), Harwich (10%, 4 mi), Barnstable Town (9%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around West Chatham without a car?
13% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West Chatham, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Chatham
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.