Work & commute · Lancaster

Work & commute in Lancaster, MA

Most working residents leave Lancaster for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (9%), Worcester (7%) and Marlborough (4%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

170 of 3,429 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

34%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,259 Lancaster residents head out of town to work, 170 work right here, and 1,921 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lancaster.

3,259live here, work elsewhere

170live and work here

1,921work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lancaster goes to work

Boston35.3 mi away

9%311

Worcester16.3 mi away

7%227

Lancaster (in town)right here

5%170

Marlborough11.3 mi away

4%143

Leominster5.5 mi away

4%130

Clinton5 mi away

4%124

Cambridge29.4 mi away

4%122

Hudson9.3 mi away

2%81

Framingham17.2 mi away

2%79

Waltham23.1 mi away

2%66

Everywhere elseother towns and states

58%1,976

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

How far

How far Lancaster commutes

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

25%

39%

31%

25%Under 10 mi

39%10–24 mi

31%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lancaster is a commuter town

0.61jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lancaster are

2,091 jobs are based in Lancaster. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lancaster’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lancaster

2,091 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Lancaster residents hold

3,429 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month73%

+13%

Jobs based in Lancaster, 2013 → 2023: 1,855 → 2,091. 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.