Work & commute · Leicester

Work & commute in Leicester, MA

Most working residents leave Leicester for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Worcester (26%), Boston (7%) and Auburn (4%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

458 of 5,870 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 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 5,412 Leicester residents head out of town to work, 458 work right here, and 2,116 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Leicester.

5,412live here, work elsewhere

458live and work here

2,116work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Leicester goes to work

Worcester5.8 mi away

26%1,515

Leicester (in town)right here

8%458

Boston46.4 mi away

7%387

Auburn4.4 mi away

4%237

Marlborough20.2 mi away

2%142

Framingham24.8 mi away

2%130

Westborough15.4 mi away

2%116

Spencer4.1 mi away

2%108

Oxford8 mi away

2%107

Shrewsbury10.6 mi away

2%103

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%2,567

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

How far

How far Leicester commutes

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

46%

20%

29%

46%Under 10 mi

20%10–24 mi

29%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Leicester is a commuter town

0.44jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Leicester are

2,574 jobs are based in Leicester. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Leicester’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Leicester

2,574 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities44%

Services (health, schools, offices…)43%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs Leicester residents hold

5,870 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month71%

+40%

Jobs based in Leicester, 2013 → 2023: 1,839 → 2,574. 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.