Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Brookline top those of 97% of U.S. towns
25% of workers have no commute at all, next to 17% for New Hampshire as a whole. The poverty rate is 0.6%, next to 7.2% for New Hampshire as a whole. Brookline grades A+ for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Brookline apart
Brookline has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Brookline went from 515 in 2013 to 831 in 2023, +61%. The jobs ↓
Brookline 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. Time on the road ↓
Brookline is a place people come home to
There are 831 jobs based in Brookline, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Brookline has about 3,900 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Brookline works from home
25% of Brookline workers work from home, against 17% across New Hampshire. Time on the road ↓
Brookline makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Brookline are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Brookline residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 19%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Brookline
The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 53% 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, Brookline could be anywhere from A to A+.
Brookline makes things: 37% of its jobs are in goods
831 jobs are based in Brookline.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brookline, 2013 → 2023: 515 → 831. 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 Brookline’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Brookline: about 33 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brookline workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,458 commuters (the 25% 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.
Who commutes out of Brookline, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,648 residents head out to work, 187 work right here, and 644 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,900 people are in Brookline on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.29 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.
20% of working residents work in Nashua
Where Brookline clocks in
20% 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.
How many miles Brookline 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.
Driving is how Brookline gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brookline is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #85 of 126 in New Hampshire. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.6% across New Hampshire.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,264 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). 2.0% of Brookline households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Brookline’s commuters take a bus or train.
Brookline places 141st of 3,432 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 4,100 to 7,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Auburn NH | 6,336 | $153K | 2.5% | 1.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Dexter MI | 4,461 | $107K | 0.8% | 2.1% | 9% | A+ |
| 140 | East Hills NY | 7,328 | $250K | 2.8% | 4.1% | 3% | A+ |
| 141 | Brookline NH | 5,858 | $171K | 0.6% | 0.9% | 7% | A+ |
| 142 | Middleton WI | 6,833 | $204K | 6.1% | 0.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 143 | Woodside CA | 5,181 | $250K | 4.5% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 161 | North Hampton NH | 4,526 | $146K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 216 | Greenland NH | 4,143 | $163K | 0.5% | 2.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,432 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Brookline, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
Brookline and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Milford (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Brookline’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 Brookline: questions
What is the median household income in Brookline?
$171,046 (±$4,111) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brookline?
0.6%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brookline?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brookline work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Nashua (20%, 9 mi), Manchester (7%, 20 mi), Merrimack (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brookline walkable?
Brookline is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brookline 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 Brookline, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brookline
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.