Work & commute · Harvard

Work & commute in Harvard, MA

Most working residents leave Harvard for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (10%), Worcester (4%) and Concord (4%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

219 of 2,771 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

45%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,552 Harvard residents head out of town to work, 219 work right here, and 4,948 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Harvard.

2,552live here, work elsewhere

219live and work here

4,948work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Harvard goes to work

Boston31.6 mi away

10%273

Harvard (in town)right here

8%219

Worcester19.7 mi away

4%114

Concord11.8 mi away

4%98

Cambridge25.5 mi away

3%92

Waltham19.4 mi away

3%87

Marlborough10.9 mi away

3%80

Burlington19.7 mi away

3%75

Acton7.8 mi away

3%73

Lowell16.5 mi away

2%63

Everywhere elseother towns and states

58%1,597

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

How far

How far Harvard commutes

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

25%

45%

25%

25%Under 10 mi

45%10–24 mi

25%25–50 mi

6%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Harvard is a job hub

1.86jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Harvard are

5,167 jobs are based in Harvard. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Harvard’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Harvard

5,167 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)38%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less6%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month79%

Jobs Harvard residents hold

2,771 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month74%

+95%

Jobs based in Harvard, 2013 → 2023: 2,653 → 5,167. 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.