Work & commute · Chatham

Work & commute in Chatham, MA

About one in 4 of Chatham’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Barnstable Town (7%), Boston (7%) and Harwich (7%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

26%

560 of 2,136 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 1,576 Chatham residents head out of town to work, 560 work right here, and 2,443 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Chatham.

1,576live here, work elsewhere

560live and work here

2,443work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Chatham goes to work

Chatham (in town)right here

26%560

Barnstable Town19.5 mi away

7%158

Boston73 mi away

7%148

Harwich7.9 mi away

7%146

Orleans11.6 mi away

4%90

Brewster10.7 mi away

4%87

Dennis11.7 mi away

3%69

Yarmouth13.3 mi away

3%66

New Bedford49.3 mi away

1%26

Sandwich26.9 mi away

1%26

Everywhere elseother towns and states

36%760

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

How far

How far Chatham commutes

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

45%

13%

34%

45%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

34%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Chatham is balanced between jobs and homes

1.41jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.41 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Chatham are

3,003 jobs are based in Chatham. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chatham’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Chatham

3,003 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month63%

Jobs Chatham residents hold

2,136 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+33%

Jobs based in Chatham, 2013 → 2023: 2,258 → 3,003. 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.