Whitman Park · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Whitman works elsewhere
Employers in Whitman report 2,949 jobs for 7,699 working residents. Whitman grades A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Measured by household income, Whitman is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Whitman, in brief
Whitman workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 29 across Massachusetts. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Whitman empties out on a workday
About 11,000 people are in Whitman on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than the 16,000 who live here: 7,300 head out to work and 2,500 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
Inside Whitman’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Whitman is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #176 of 283 in Massachusetts. Job access by car holds Whitman’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Whitman could be anywhere from B to A.
Each way, about 36 minutes from Whitman
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Whitman workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,490 commuters (the 11% 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.
Whitman by day and by night
On a workday 7,272 residents head out to work, 427 work right here, and 2,522 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Whitman on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
12% of working residents work in Boston
Where Whitman clocks in
12% of workers
6% 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.
The kinds of work in Whitman
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Whitman, 2013 → 2023: 2,901 → 2,949. 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 Whitman’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Whitman commutes
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Whitman
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Whitman is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #118 of 283 in Massachusetts. Both inputs place Whitman 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 8,399 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 28% 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 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 2.8% of Whitman households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Whitman’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Whitman ranks: 829th of 2,109 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Westwood MA | 16,426 | $223K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 827 | Valley Center CA | 11,119 | $132K | 6.7% | 3.7% | 7% | A− |
| 828 | Vineyard UT | 16,092 | $103K | 10.1% | 2.5% | 3% | A− |
| 829 | Whitman MA | 15,526 | $109K | 7.9% | 5.2% | 6% | A− |
| 830 | Oxon Hill MD | 17,893 | $93K | 6.2% | 5.9% | 2% | A− |
| 831 | Elk Plain WA | 14,276 | $107K | 8.3% | 3.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Whitman, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
Whitman and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Brockton (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Whitman workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitman | – | A− | A− | 36 min | $108,933 |
| East Bridgewater | under 3% | A− | B− | 32 min | $133,853 |
| Brockton | 6% | B− | A | 32 min | $80,115 |
| Abington | 2% | A− | A− | 33 min | $125,400 |
| Hanson | under 3% | A | C+ | 34 min | $132,200 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Whitman’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 Whitman: questions
What is the median household income in Whitman?
$108,933 (±$13,577) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Whitman?
7.9%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Whitman?
36 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Whitman work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Boston (12%, 18 mi), Brockton (6%, 4 mi), Weymouth Town (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Whitman walkable?
Whitman is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Whitman without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Whitman, from the people who make the trip.
More of Whitman
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.