Work & commute · Northampton

Work & commute in Northampton, MA

About one in 3 of Northampton’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Springfield (8%), Amherst Town (8%) and Boston (4%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

32%

3,717 of 11,500 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

24%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 7,783 Northampton residents head out of town to work, 3,717 work right here, and 16,603 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Northampton.

7,783live here, work elsewhere

3,717live and work here

16,603work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Northampton goes to work

Northampton (in town)right here

32%3,717

Springfield16.2 mi away

8%967

Amherst Town8.9 mi away

8%885

Boston84.8 mi away

4%415

Holyoke8.1 mi away

3%392

Easthampton4.3 mi away

3%370

Hadley5.8 mi away

3%300

Greenfield20.3 mi away

2%269

Westfield13.7 mi away

2%190

South Hadley6.9 mi away

2%179

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%3,816

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

How far

How far Northampton commutes

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

52%

24%

19%

52%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Northampton is a job hub

1.77jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Northampton are

20,320 jobs are based in Northampton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Northampton’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Northampton

20,320 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Northampton residents hold

11,500 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+25%

Jobs based in Northampton, 2013 → 2023: 16,267 → 20,320. 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.