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Work & commute in Buzzards Bay · Balanced

94% of Buzzards Bay’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Buzzards Bay for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Bourne (17%), Falmouth (7%) and Barnstable Town (6%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Work in town
6%
82 of 1,423 working residents
Typical commute
18 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
32 min
More than MA (29 min)
Work from home
17%
Less than MA (19%)
Jobs based here
1,255
Balanced

What kind of work town is Buzzards Bay?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Next door

29% of Buzzards Bay works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Bourne (17%). Darker towns draw more of Buzzards Bay’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

Day and night

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,341 residents head out to work, 82 work right here, and 1,173 people come in from elsewhere.

1,341live here, work elsewhere
82live and work here
1,173work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night2,900
Workday2,700
2,900live here− 1,300head out to work+ 1,200come in to work= 2,700on a workday

About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.88jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

About as many jobs as working residents (0.88 per resident).

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

The commute map

17% of working residents work in Bourne

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

New Bedford: 33 residents work here (2%)Brockton: 26 residents work here (2%)Boston: 84 residents work here (6%)Barnstable Town: 91 residents work here (6%)Plymouth: 84 residents work here (6%)Mashpee: 29 residents work here (2%)Sandwich: 68 residents work here (5%)YarmouthBourne: 235 residents work here (17%)Wareham: 85 residents work here (6%)FairhavenFalmouth: 95 residents work here (7%)Buzzards BayBourneFalmouthBarnstable TownWarehamBostonPlymouthBuzzards Bay
1
Bourne2.8 mi away
17%235
2
Falmouth11 mi away
7%95
3
Barnstable Town14.9 mi away
6%91
4
Wareham4.7 mi away
6%85
5
Boston44.9 mi away
6%84
6
Plymouth9.2 mi away
6%84
7
Sandwich7.3 mi away
5%68
8
New Bedford17.8 mi away
2%33
9
Mashpee11.4 mi away
2%29
10
Brockton31 mi away
2%26
Everywhere elseother towns and states
42%593
The top trips

Where Buzzards Bay clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

How far

Half of Buzzards Bay commutes less than 18 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi55 miBourne: 17% · 2.8 miFalmouth: 7% · 11 miBarnstable Town: 6% · 14.9 miWareham: 6% · 4.7 miBoston: 6% · 44.9 miPlymouth: 6% · 9.2 miSandwich: 5% · 7.3 miNew Bedford: 2% · 17.8 miMashpee: 2% · 11.4 miBrockton: 2% · 31 miBourne 17%Falmouth 7%Wareham 6%Boston 6%Buzzards Bay
Buzzards BayTop destinations (size = commuters)
31%Under 10 mi439 residents
30%10–24 mi427 residents
25%25–50 mi360 residents
14%Over 50 mi197 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

Mostly services: health care, schools and offices

1,255 jobs are based in Buzzards Bay. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Buzzards Bay’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Buzzards BayJobs Buzzards Bay residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms6%12%
Trade, transport & utilities9%20%
Services: health, schools, offices85%68%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less14%14%
$1,251–$3,333 a month25%21%
Over $3,333 a month62%65%

Who does it

29 or younger21%18%
30 to 5447%44%
55 and older32%37%
−10%

Jobs based in Buzzards Bay, 2013 → 2023: 1,400 → 1,255. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Time on the road

About 32 minutes each way, longer than most of Massachusetts

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
246 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Buzzards Bay32 min
Massachusetts29 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
17%

of Buzzards Bay workers work from home, vs 19% across Massachusetts. Their commute is the hallway.

About 2 in 10
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Buzzards Bay

Buzzards Bay home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Buzzards Bay, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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