Wood, Ezra-Levi Warner Place · Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Westminster works elsewhere
1,954 jobs are based in Westminster; 3,646 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Westminster are A for jobs and income and C for walkability. Measured by household income, Westminster is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs & income in Westminster: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Westminster is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #105 of 283 in Massachusetts. The poverty rate is its strongest input (2.3%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Westminster could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Who commutes out of Westminster, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,328 residents head out to work, 318 work right here, and 1,636 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,100 people are in Westminster on a workday afternoon, 19% 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.
10% of working residents work in Fitchburg
Where Westminster clocks in
10% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
Westminster works in goods: 29% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Westminster, 2013 → 2023: 2,334 → 1,954. 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 Westminster’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Westminster: 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 Westminster workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,722 commuters (the 12% 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.
The commute from Westminster, by distance
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.
Most of Westminster commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Westminster is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #256 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Westminster 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 4,253 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 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 43% 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). 3.5% of Westminster households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Westminster’s commuters take a bus or train.
Westminster places 576th of 2,878 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 6,200 to 11,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Lincoln MA | 6,925 | $175K | 2.3% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| 34 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 574 | Mount Horeb WI | 7,725 | $108K | 2.8% | 3.6% | 15% | A |
| 575 | Groveland MA | 7,102 | $141K | 3.2% | 5.0% | 5% | A |
| 576 | Westminster MA | 8,807 | $106K | 2.3% | 3.1% | 9% | A |
| 577 | Polk City IA | 6,630 | $164K | 6.7% | 3.2% | 5% | A |
| 578 | Wood-Ridge NJ | 10,341 | $136K | 6.9% | 4.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | 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 Westminster, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
22% of Westminster works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Fitchburg (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Westminster workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westminster | – | A | C | 27 min | $106,331 |
| Ashburnham | 3% | B+ | C | 32 min | $118,809 |
| Fitchburg | 10% | C | A | 27 min | $73,040 |
| Princeton | 2% | A+ | B− | 37 min | $158,750 |
| Gardner | 7% | C | A | 31 min | $67,518 |
| Hubbardston | under 2% | A− | D | 36 min | $123,500 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Westminster’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 Westminster: questions
What is the median household income in Westminster?
$106,331 (±$21,852) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Westminster?
2.3%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Westminster?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Westminster work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fitchburg (10%, 6 mi), Leominster (9%, 7 mi), Gardner (7%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Westminster walkable?
Westminster is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Westminster without a car?
<1% 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 Westminster, from the people who make the trip.
More of Westminster
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.