Photo: Smuttynoser at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Amherst top those of 95% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 4.4% of residents, against 7.2% across New Hampshire. For jobs and income Amherst is better than 95% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (C+). Working from home is the commute for 32% of workers, against 17% across New Hampshire.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Amherst in brief
A lot of Amherst works from home
32% of Amherst workers work from home, against 17% across New Hampshire. Time on the road ↓
Amherst and Nashua trade workers both ways
Nashua is the top workplace for Amherst residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Amherst come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Amherst workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 27 across New Hampshire. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (25 to 30 minutes). Time on the road ↓
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.
The four measures behind Amherst’s grade
Household income is its strongest input ($153,196, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 63% of U.S. towns). 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, Amherst could be anywhere from A− to A+.
A commute of about 33 minutes in Amherst
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Amherst workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,000 commuters (the 32% who work from home are left out). Across New Hampshire: 87% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
16% of working residents work in Nashua
Where Amherst clocks in
16% of workers
12% 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 daily commute in and out of Amherst
On a workday 5,010 residents head out to work, 510 work right here, and 3,491 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Amherst on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.72 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Jobs in Amherst: what the 4,001 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Amherst, 2013 → 2023: 3,548 → 4,001. 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 Amherst’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Amherst commutes less than 12 miles
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.
Few in Amherst walk, bike or ride to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,914 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.5% of Amherst households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Amherst’s commuters take a bus or train.
Amherst next to U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000: 229th of 2,695 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 134 | Hollis NH | 8,819 | $169K | 1.9% | 2.0% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 227 | Lakeland TN | 14,422 | $116K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 4% | A |
| 228 | Lavon TX | 11,888 | $131K | 1.6% | 3.6% | 1% | A |
| 229 | Amherst NH | 11,985 | $153K | 4.4% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| 230 | New Britain Township PA | 12,377 | $144K | 2.2% | 3.9% | 5% | A |
| 231 | Urbana MD | 14,260 | $183K | 1.2% | 3.7% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 269 | Litchfield NH | 8,704 | $162K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 313 | Weare NH | 9,291 | $118K | 1.4% | 0.4% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Amherst, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
19% of Amherst works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Merrimack (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Amherst workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amherst | – | A | C+ | 33 min | $153,196 |
| Milford | 5% | A | B− | 27 min | $97,768 |
| Mont Vernon | under 2% | A | C− | 30 min | $158,036 |
| Merrimack | 9% | A+ | C | 27 min | $127,219 |
| Bedford | 5% | A+ | B+ | 25 min | $167,418 |
| Hollis | under 2% | A+ | C | 27 min | $168,883 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Amherst’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 Amherst: questions
What is the median household income in Amherst?
$153,196 (±$10,209) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Amherst?
4.4%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Amherst?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 32% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Amherst work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Nashua (16%, 10 mi), Manchester (12%, 11 mi), Merrimack (9%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Amherst walkable?
Amherst is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Amherst without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Amherst, from the people who make the trip.
More of Amherst
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.