Academy Historic District · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Wilbraham have higher incomes than those in 89% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Wilbraham are A for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 4.6% of residents, where Massachusetts as a whole has 10.0%. About one in ten stay in Wilbraham for work; outside it, Springfield is the main destination (27%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Wilbraham
Wilbraham trades workers with the towns around it
Wilbraham has about as many jobs (5,556) as working residents (6,496), but they are mostly different people: 5,801 residents leave for work each day while 4,861 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Wilbraham are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Wilbraham and Springfield trade workers both ways
Springfield is the top workplace for Wilbraham residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Wilbraham come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Wilbraham
68% of Wilbraham residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 43% of the jobs based in Wilbraham pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 89% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
43% of the jobs in Wilbraham are in trade, transport and utilities, against 16% of the jobs its residents hold. 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.
How Wilbraham earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wilbraham is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #54 of 283 in Massachusetts. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Wilbraham’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wilbraham could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The daily flow of workers through Wilbraham
On a workday 5,801 residents head out to work, 695 work right here, and 4,861 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 (0.86 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.
The towns that employ Wilbraham’s residents
Where Wilbraham clocks in
27% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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 5,556 jobs based in Wilbraham
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wilbraham, 2013 → 2023: 4,773 → 5,556. 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 Wilbraham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes each way, quicker than most of Massachusetts
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wilbraham workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,268 commuters (the 13% 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.
How far it is to work from Wilbraham
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.
The commute in Wilbraham is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wilbraham is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns, #216 of 283 in Massachusetts. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 14.1% across Massachusetts, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,197 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 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 63% 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). 3.9% of Wilbraham households have no vehicle (Massachusetts 11.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Wilbraham’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wilbraham places 282nd of 2,362 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Weston MA | 11,729 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Norwell MA | 11,546 | $189K | 2.7% | 1.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Westwood MA | 16,426 | $223K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 280 | Lyndhurst OH | 13,522 | $91K | 4.7% | 2.0% | 4% | A |
| 281 | East Longmeadow MA | 16,581 | $107K | 3.8% | 2.9% | 14% | A |
| 282 | Wilbraham MA | 14,715 | $122K | 4.6% | 2.5% | 11% | A |
| 283 | Concord Township OH | 12,448 | $154K | 3.4% | 3.9% | 2% | A |
| 284 | Lemont IL | 18,513 | $123K | 3.1% | 4.5% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | 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 Wilbraham, the top three, the last and three more from Massachusetts.
How Wilbraham compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Ludlow (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Wilbraham’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 Wilbraham: questions
What is the median household income in Wilbraham?
$122,051 (±$14,488) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,960 across Massachusetts and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wilbraham?
4.6%, against 10.0% across Massachusetts and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wilbraham?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across Massachusetts and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wilbraham work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (27%, 6 mi), East Longmeadow (4%, 6 mi), Chicopee (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wilbraham walkable?
Wilbraham is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wilbraham 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 Wilbraham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wilbraham
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.