Work & commute · Brookfield

Work & commute in Brookfield, MA

Most working residents leave Brookfield for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Worcester (12%), Sturbridge (6%) and Boston (6%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

91 of 1,707 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,616 Brookfield residents head out of town to work, 91 work right here, and 314 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Brookfield.

1,616live here, work elsewhere

91live and work here

314work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Brookfield goes to work

Worcester16.5 mi away

12%212

Sturbridge5.4 mi away

6%109

Boston56.9 mi away

6%107

Brookfield (in town)right here

5%91

Spencer7.5 mi away

4%68

Southbridge Town9.2 mi away

3%49

Charlton7.9 mi away

3%46

Auburn13.5 mi away

3%43

West Brookfield5.6 mi away

3%43

Shrewsbury21.4 mi away

2%34

Everywhere elseother towns and states

53%905

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

How far

How far Brookfield commutes

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

29%

31%

21%

19%

29%Under 10 mi

31%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Brookfield is a commuter town

0.24jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Brookfield are

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

Jobs based in Brookfield

405 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs Brookfield residents hold

1,707 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+9%

Jobs based in Brookfield, 2013 → 2023: 373 → 405. 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.