Work & commute · Ashland

Work & commute in Ashland, MA

Most working residents leave Ashland for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (14%), Framingham (9%) and Natick (6%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

656 of 9,081 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

37 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

23%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 8,425 Ashland residents head out of town to work, 656 work right here, and 3,621 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ashland.

8,425live here, work elsewhere

656live and work here

3,621work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ashland goes to work

Boston24.2 mi away

14%1,276

Framingham4 mi away

9%832

Ashland (in town)right here

7%656

Natick6.7 mi away

6%500

Cambridge20 mi away

4%359

Waltham15 mi away

4%336

Worcester17 mi away

4%324

Marlborough7.3 mi away

3%262

Newton14.6 mi away

2%219

Westborough7.1 mi away

2%212

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%4,105

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

How far

How far Ashland commutes

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

37%

51%

37%Under 10 mi

51%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ashland is a commuter town

0.47jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.47 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Ashland are

4,277 jobs are based in Ashland. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ashland’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Ashland

4,277 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Ashland residents hold

9,081 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month75%

+1%

Jobs based in Ashland, 2013 → 2023: 4,247 → 4,277. 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.