Work & commute · Amherst

Work & commute in Amherst, MA

About one in 4 of Amherst’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Northampton (7%), Boston (7%) and Springfield (5%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

26%

2,220 of 8,514 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

21%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,294 Amherst residents head out of town to work, 2,220 work right here, and 16,002 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Amherst.

6,294live here, work elsewhere

2,220live and work here

16,002work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Amherst goes to work

Amherst Town (in town)right here

26%2,220

Northampton8.9 mi away

7%574

Boston76.3 mi away

7%557

Springfield17.2 mi away

5%456

Hadley3.2 mi away

4%314

Worcester36.3 mi away

3%224

Greenfield17.9 mi away

2%188

Holyoke12.6 mi away

2%186

South Hadley8.3 mi away

1%124

Cambridge70.9 mi away

1%99

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%3,572

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Amherst commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

40%

18%

11%

31%

40%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Amherst is a job hub

2.14jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Amherst are

18,222 jobs are based in Amherst. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Amherst’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Amherst

18,222 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)1%

Trade, transport & utilities4%

Services (health, schools, offices…)95%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month69%

Jobs Amherst residents hold

8,514 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+15%

Jobs based in Amherst, 2013 → 2023: 15,886 → 18,222. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.