Work & commute · North Reading

Work & commute in North Reading, MA

Most working residents leave North Reading for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (19%), Cambridge (5%) and Woburn (4%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

634 of 8,219 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

34 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

26%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 7,585 North Reading residents head out of town to work, 634 work right here, and 8,130 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in North Reading.

7,585live here, work elsewhere

634live and work here

8,130work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where North Reading goes to work

Boston17.4 mi away

19%1,552

North Reading (in town)right here

8%634

Cambridge14.1 mi away

5%441

Woburn7.1 mi away

4%350

Burlington7.9 mi away

3%275

Andover6.2 mi away

3%272

Wilmington4.2 mi away

3%246

Waltham15.4 mi away

3%207

Wakefield5.2 mi away

2%188

Reading3.2 mi away

2%177

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%3,877

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

How far

How far North Reading commutes

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

39%

50%

39%Under 10 mi

50%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

3%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

North Reading is balanced between jobs and homes

1.07jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.07 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in North Reading are

8,764 jobs are based in North Reading. Here is what they are, next to the jobs North Reading’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in North Reading

8,764 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities38%

Services (health, schools, offices…)39%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs North Reading residents hold

8,219 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month75%

+29%

Jobs based in North Reading, 2013 → 2023: 6,771 → 8,764. 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.