Work & commute · Gardner

Work & commute in Gardner, MA

Most working residents leave Gardner for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are Fitchburg (7%), Leominster (6%) and Boston (5%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18%

1,626 of 9,168 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 7,542 Gardner residents head out of town to work, 1,626 work right here, and 6,082 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Gardner.

7,542live here, work elsewhere

1,626live and work here

6,082work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Gardner goes to work

Gardner (in town)right here

18%1,626

Fitchburg8.9 mi away

7%648

Leominster11.9 mi away

6%581

Boston52.7 mi away

5%484

Worcester23.6 mi away

5%476

Westminster4.8 mi away

2%198

Marlborough27.7 mi away

2%182

Ayer21.1 mi away

2%158

Harvard21.1 mi away

1%130

Templeton4.6 mi away

1%130

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%4,555

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

How far

How far Gardner commutes

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

28%

33%

10%

28%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

33%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Gardner is balanced between jobs and homes

0.84jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.84 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Gardner are

7,708 jobs are based in Gardner. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Gardner’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Gardner

7,708 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Gardner residents hold

9,168 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+3%

Jobs based in Gardner, 2013 → 2023: 7,496 → 7,708. 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.