Photo: Jeff Jason II (jeffjason.com) AKA UmassThrower · CC BY-SA 3.0At 3.0%, unemployment in Westfield is lower than in 70% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Westfield are B+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 9.7 in Springfield. 9% of workers work from home (Massachusetts 19%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Westfield
Jobs & income in Westfield: the grade in detail
Job access by car holds Westfield’s grade up (ahead of 74% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (10.7%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Westfield could be anywhere from B to A−.
The daily flow of workers through Westfield
On a workday 13,429 residents head out to work, 4,123 work right here, and 12,224 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.
14% of working residents work in Springfield
Where Westfield clocks in
14% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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 the 16,347 jobs in Westfield are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Westfield, 2013 → 2023: 17,173 → 16,347. 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 Westfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Westfield: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Westfield workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 18,322 commuters (the 9% 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.
Westfield’s commute, mile by mile
About 17% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Westfield
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Westfield is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #77 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Westfield 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 20,051 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 57% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 10% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 71% 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). 8.6% of Westfield households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Westfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Westfield is 529th among 1,101 U.S. towns of 28,000 to 55,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Lexington MA | 34,648 | $238K | 4.7% | 2.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Shrewsbury MA | 39,627 | $139K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Arlington MA | 46,563 | $151K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 527 | Katy TX | 28,373 | $115K | 8.1% | 7.4% | 13% | B+ |
| 528 | Union Township OH | 51,713 | $80K | 9.0% | 3.2% | 10% | B+ |
| 529 | Westfield MA | 40,546 | $88K | 10.7% | 3.0% | 23% | B+ |
| 530 | Waipahu HI | 40,482 | $104K | 12.0% | 4.1% | 3% | B+ |
| 531 | Prattville AL | 40,582 | $81K | 10.7% | 1.8% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,101 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Westfield, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Westfield and its neighbors: 16% work next door
The biggest share goes to West Springfield Town (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Westfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westfield | – | B+ | A | 27 min | $87,753 |
| Russell | under 2% | B+ | C− | 30 min | $108,750 |
| West Springfield Town | 5% | B− | B+ | 19 min | $69,371 |
| Agawam Town | 4% | A− | B | 22 min | $85,421 |
| Montgomery | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Granville | under 2% | B | C | 39 min | $84,375 |
| Southwick | 2% | A | C | 29 min | $120,462 |
| Southampton | under 2% | A | D | 22 min | $123,125 |
| Holyoke | 5% | C− | A | 19 min | $53,605 |
Same-state neighbors only. Montgomery: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Westfield’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 Westfield: questions
What is the median household income in Westfield?
$87,753 (±$5,590) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Westfield?
10.7%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Westfield?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Westfield work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (14%, 11 mi), West Springfield Town (5%, 6 mi), Holyoke (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Westfield walkable?
Westfield is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Westfield without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 10% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Westfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Westfield
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.