Work & commute · Athol

Work & commute in Athol, MA

Most working residents leave Athol for work: only 19% work in town. The top destinations are Gardner (7%), Orange (6%) and Worcester (5%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19%

1,038 of 5,427 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,389 Athol residents head out of town to work, 1,038 work right here, and 2,312 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Athol.

4,389live here, work elsewhere

1,038live and work here

2,312work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Athol goes to work

Athol (in town)right here

19%1,038

Gardner12.3 mi away

7%373

Orange3.8 mi away

6%303

Worcester30.2 mi away

5%252

Leominster23.7 mi away

3%189

Fitchburg21.1 mi away

3%188

Boston64.2 mi away

3%151

Greenfield18.9 mi away

3%140

Templeton7.9 mi away

2%109

Amherst Town20.4 mi away

2%101

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%2,583

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

How far

How far Athol commutes

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

29%

26%

28%

17%

29%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

28%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Athol is a commuter town

0.62jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Athol are

3,350 jobs are based in Athol. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Athol’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Athol

3,350 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Athol residents hold

5,427 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month60%

+0%

Jobs based in Athol, 2013 → 2023: 3,334 → 3,350. 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.