Work & commute · Barre

Work & commute in Barre, MA

Most working residents leave Barre for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Worcester (14%), Boston (6%) and Gardner (2%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

288 of 2,672 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

36 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 2,384 Barre residents head out of town to work, 288 work right here, and 932 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Barre.

2,384live here, work elsewhere

288live and work here

932work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Barre goes to work

Worcester18.7 mi away

14%377

Barre (in town)right here

11%288

Boston56.4 mi away

6%165

Gardner13 mi away

2%66

Auburn20.4 mi away

2%58

Fitchburg19.7 mi away

2%47

Hardwick7 mi away

2%47

Athol12.4 mi away

2%45

Leominster18.8 mi away

2%43

Spencer13.4 mi away

1%40

Everywhere elseother towns and states

56%1,496

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

How far

How far Barre commutes

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

17%

43%

22%

19%

17%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Barre is a commuter town

0.46jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Barre are

1,220 jobs are based in Barre. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Barre’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Barre

1,220 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Barre residents hold

2,672 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month70%

+18%

Jobs based in Barre, 2013 → 2023: 1,031 → 1,220. 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.