Work & commute · Lee

Work & commute in Lee, MA

About one in 4 of Lee’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Pittsfield (19%), Lenox (7%) and Great Barrington (6%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

26%

644 of 2,432 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,788 Lee residents head out of town to work, 644 work right here, and 2,112 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lee.

1,788live here, work elsewhere

644live and work here

2,112work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lee goes to work

Lee (in town)right here

26%644

Pittsfield10.4 mi away

19%463

Lenox4.8 mi away

7%179

Great Barrington7.6 mi away

6%155

Stockbridge4.8 mi away

5%121

Boston113.5 mi away

3%67

Sheffield15.2 mi away

2%54

Springfield37.8 mi away

2%42

Williamstown27.1 mi away

1%27

North Adams26.4 mi away

1%24

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%656

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

How far

How far Lee commutes

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

53%

19%

11%

17%

53%Under 10 mi

19%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lee is balanced between jobs and homes

1.13jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.13 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Lee are

2,756 jobs are based in Lee. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lee’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lee

2,756 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)47%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Lee residents hold

2,432 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month61%

−11%

Jobs based in Lee, 2013 → 2023: 3,100 → 2,756. 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.