Work & commute · Lincoln

Work & commute in Lincoln, MA

Most working residents leave Lincoln for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (25%), Cambridge (11%) and Waltham (5%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

135 of 2,513 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 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 2,378 Lincoln residents head out of town to work, 135 work right here, and 2,306 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lincoln.

2,378live here, work elsewhere

135live and work here

2,306work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lincoln goes to work

Boston16.5 mi away

25%638

Cambridge10.4 mi away

11%285

Waltham4.3 mi away

5%138

Lincoln (in town)right here

5%135

Lexington4.3 mi away

3%72

Newton8.3 mi away

3%70

Burlington7.7 mi away

2%61

Concord3.8 mi away

2%55

Bedford5.3 mi away

2%41

Framingham10.3 mi away

1%36

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%982

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

How far

How far Lincoln commutes

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

36%

53%

36%Under 10 mi

53%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lincoln is balanced between jobs and homes

0.97jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.97 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Lincoln are

2,441 jobs are based in Lincoln. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lincoln’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lincoln

2,441 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)2%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)89%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month75%

Jobs Lincoln residents hold

2,513 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)83%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month13%

Over $3,333 a month76%

+4%

Jobs based in Lincoln, 2013 → 2023: 2,344 → 2,441. 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.