Work & commute · Fairhaven

Work & commute in Fairhaven, MA

Most working residents leave Fairhaven for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are New Bedford (19%), Dartmouth (7%) and Fall River (6%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

14%

1,029 of 7,152 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,123 Fairhaven residents head out of town to work, 1,029 work right here, and 6,496 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fairhaven.

6,123live here, work elsewhere

1,029live and work here

6,496work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fairhaven goes to work

New Bedford3.9 mi away

19%1,378

Fairhaven (in town)right here

14%1,029

Dartmouth6.5 mi away

7%505

Fall River12.9 mi away

6%452

Boston48.8 mi away

5%344

Wareham12.2 mi away

2%162

Taunton21.9 mi away

2%161

Mattapoisett3.6 mi away

2%154

Acushnet6 mi away

1%103

Falmouth14.3 mi away

1%96

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%2,768

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

How far

How far Fairhaven commutes

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

47%

22%

17%

14%

47%Under 10 mi

22%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fairhaven is balanced between jobs and homes

1.05jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.05 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Fairhaven are

7,525 jobs are based in Fairhaven. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fairhaven’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Fairhaven

7,525 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Fairhaven residents hold

7,152 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+10%

Jobs based in Fairhaven, 2013 → 2023: 6,827 → 7,525. 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.