Work & commute · Ayer

Work & commute in Ayer, MA

Most working residents leave Ayer for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (7%), Acton (3%) and Littleton (3%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

417 of 4,244 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

33 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,827 Ayer residents head out of town to work, 417 work right here, and 5,375 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ayer.

3,827live here, work elsewhere

417live and work here

5,375work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ayer goes to work

Ayer (in town)right here

10%417

Boston32.9 mi away

7%304

Acton9 mi away

3%143

Littleton4.8 mi away

3%140

Cambridge26.7 mi away

3%126

Waltham21 mi away

3%126

Harvard4.4 mi away

3%122

Concord12.9 mi away

3%120

Marlborough15.1 mi away

3%112

Worcester23.7 mi away

3%112

Everywhere elseother towns and states

59%2,522

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

How far

How far Ayer commutes

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

29%

45%

21%

29%Under 10 mi

45%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ayer is balanced between jobs and homes

1.36jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.36 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Ayer are

5,792 jobs are based in Ayer. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ayer’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Ayer

5,792 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)42%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)36%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month77%

Jobs Ayer residents hold

4,244 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month71%

+30%

Jobs based in Ayer, 2013 → 2023: 4,451 → 5,792. 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.