Work & commute · Holden

Work & commute in Holden, MA

Most working residents leave Holden for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Worcester (27%), Boston (7%) and Marlborough (3%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

728 of 9,966 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

18%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 9,238 Holden residents head out of town to work, 728 work right here, and 2,928 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Holden.

9,238live here, work elsewhere

728live and work here

2,928work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Holden goes to work

Worcester6.6 mi away

27%2,712

Holden (in town)right here

7%728

Boston43.4 mi away

7%684

Marlborough16.1 mi away

3%329

Westborough14.1 mi away

3%256

Shrewsbury9 mi away

2%232

Framingham22 mi away

2%213

West Boylston4.1 mi away

2%189

Cambridge38 mi away

2%162

Northborough11.3 mi away

1%143

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%4,318

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

How far

How far Holden commutes

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

43%

25%

28%

43%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

28%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Holden is a commuter town

0.37jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Holden are

3,656 jobs are based in Holden. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Holden’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Holden

3,656 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Holden residents hold

9,966 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month74%

+14%

Jobs based in Holden, 2013 → 2023: 3,202 → 3,656. 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.