Work & commute · Canton

Work & commute in Canton, MA

Most working residents leave Canton for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (31%), Cambridge (3%) and Quincy (3%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

1,215 of 12,065 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

36 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

26%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 10,850 Canton residents head out of town to work, 1,215 work right here, and 22,965 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Canton.

10,850live here, work elsewhere

1,215live and work here

22,965work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Canton goes to work

Boston12.3 mi away

31%3,739

Canton (in town)right here

10%1,215

Cambridge13.8 mi away

3%349

Quincy8.4 mi away

3%324

Norwood3.7 mi away

3%324

Newton11.6 mi away

2%295

Brockton8.2 mi away

2%279

Stoughton4.1 mi away

2%269

Braintree Town6.6 mi away

2%254

Westwood5.6 mi away

2%212

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%4,805

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

How far

How far Canton commutes

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

36%

53%

36%Under 10 mi

53%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

3%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Canton is a job hub

2.00jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Canton are

24,180 jobs are based in Canton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Canton’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Canton

24,180 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less7%

$1,251–$3,333 a month11%

Over $3,333 a month82%

Jobs Canton residents hold

12,065 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month73%

+9%

Jobs based in Canton, 2013 → 2023: 22,154 → 24,180. 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.