Work & commute · Needham

Work & commute in Needham, MA

Most working residents leave Needham for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (34%), Cambridge (6%) and Newton (6%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

1,482 of 14,763 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

32%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 13,281 Needham residents head out of town to work, 1,482 work right here, and 20,812 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Needham.

13,281live here, work elsewhere

1,482live and work here

20,812work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Needham goes to work

Boston12.2 mi away

34%4,957

Needham (in town)right here

10%1,482

Cambridge9.1 mi away

6%923

Newton3.9 mi away

6%876

Waltham7.4 mi away

4%587

Wellesley2.7 mi away

3%389

Burlington15.4 mi away

2%237

Framingham10.1 mi away

2%235

Natick5.4 mi away

1%215

Brookline5.9 mi away

1%213

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%4,649

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

How far

How far Needham commutes

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

61%

30%

61%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Needham is a job hub

1.51jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Needham are

22,294 jobs are based in Needham. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Needham’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Needham

22,294 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month75%

Jobs Needham residents hold

14,763 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)83%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month10%

Over $3,333 a month80%

+16%

Jobs based in Needham, 2013 → 2023: 19,219 → 22,294. 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.