Work & commute · Lexington

Work & commute in Lexington, MA

Most working residents leave Lexington for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (24%), Cambridge (14%) and Waltham (5%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

1,625 of 14,735 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

37%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 13,110 Lexington residents head out of town to work, 1,625 work right here, and 22,398 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lexington.

13,110live here, work elsewhere

1,625live and work here

22,398work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lexington goes to work

Boston13.5 mi away

24%3,547

Cambridge7.4 mi away

14%2,108

Lexington (in town)right here

11%1,625

Waltham3.9 mi away

5%754

Burlington4.3 mi away

4%625

Newton7.9 mi away

2%319

Woburn4.9 mi away

2%304

Bedford4.5 mi away

2%295

Billerica8.1 mi away

1%186

Somerville7.6 mi away

1%182

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%4,790

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

How far

How far Lexington commutes

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

60%

33%

60%Under 10 mi

33%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lexington is a job hub

1.63jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lexington are

24,023 jobs are based in Lexington. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lexington’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lexington

24,023 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities5%

Services (health, schools, offices…)91%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month9%

Over $3,333 a month83%

Jobs Lexington residents hold

14,735 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)82%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month10%

Over $3,333 a month79%

+24%

Jobs based in Lexington, 2013 → 2023: 19,365 → 24,023. 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.