Work & commute · Bedford

Work & commute in Bedford, MA

Most working residents leave Bedford for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (17%), Cambridge (9%) and Burlington (6%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

779 of 6,518 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

32%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 5,739 Bedford residents head out of town to work, 779 work right here, and 18,759 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bedford.

5,739live here, work elsewhere

779live and work here

18,759work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bedford goes to work

Boston17.9 mi away

17%1,101

Bedford (in town)right here

12%779

Cambridge11.9 mi away

9%604

Burlington4.1 mi away

6%380

Waltham7.9 mi away

5%317

Lexington4.5 mi away

5%307

Billerica4.3 mi away

3%165

Woburn6.5 mi away

2%156

Newton12.1 mi away

2%139

Concord4.9 mi away

2%124

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%2,446

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

How far

How far Bedford commutes

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

43%

47%

43%Under 10 mi

47%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bedford is a job hub

3.00jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Bedford are

19,538 jobs are based in Bedford. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bedford’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Bedford

19,538 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less5%

$1,251–$3,333 a month8%

Over $3,333 a month87%

Jobs Bedford residents hold

6,518 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month11%

Over $3,333 a month78%

+15%

Jobs based in Bedford, 2013 → 2023: 17,005 → 19,538. 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.