Work & commute · Northborough

Work & commute in Northborough, MA

Most working residents leave Northborough for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Worcester (11%), Marlborough (9%) and Boston (8%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

635 of 7,113 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

23%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,478 Northborough residents head out of town to work, 635 work right here, and 8,763 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Northborough.

6,478live here, work elsewhere

635live and work here

8,763work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Northborough goes to work

Worcester9.1 mi away

11%774

Marlborough5.4 mi away

9%639

Northborough (in town)right here

9%635

Boston32.3 mi away

8%581

Framingham10.8 mi away

5%366

Westborough4.2 mi away

5%366

Southborough6.1 mi away

3%209

Hudson6.8 mi away

2%140

Cambridge27.2 mi away

2%136

Waltham21.1 mi away

2%125

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%3,142

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

How far

How far Northborough commutes

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

44%

26%

25%

44%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

25%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Northborough is balanced between jobs and homes

1.32jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Northborough are

9,398 jobs are based in Northborough. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Northborough’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Northborough

9,398 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities45%

Services (health, schools, offices…)42%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month69%

Jobs Northborough residents hold

7,113 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month16%

Over $3,333 a month73%

+32%

Jobs based in Northborough, 2013 → 2023: 7,102 → 9,398. 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.