Work & commute · Fitchburg

Work & commute in Fitchburg, MA

Most working residents leave Fitchburg for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Leominster (12%), Worcester (6%) and Boston (5%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

3,078 of 17,710 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 14,632 Fitchburg residents head out of town to work, 3,078 work right here, and 8,766 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fitchburg.

14,632live here, work elsewhere

3,078live and work here

8,766work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fitchburg goes to work

Fitchburg (in town)right here

17%3,078

Leominster6.1 mi away

12%2,206

Worcester23 mi away

6%1,001

Boston44.9 mi away

5%863

Ayer12.5 mi away

3%454

Gardner8.9 mi away

3%451

Marlborough22.2 mi away

2%368

Lunenburg5 mi away

2%289

Harvard13.4 mi away

2%284

Acton20.9 mi away

1%247

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%8,469

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

How far

How far Fitchburg commutes

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

39%

28%

27%

39%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

27%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fitchburg is a commuter town

0.67jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Fitchburg are

11,844 jobs are based in Fitchburg. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fitchburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Fitchburg

11,844 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Fitchburg residents hold

17,710 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+4%

Jobs based in Fitchburg, 2013 → 2023: 11,340 → 11,844. 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.