Work & commute · Reading

Work & commute in Reading, MA

Most working residents leave Reading for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (23%), Cambridge (6%) and Woburn (5%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

981 of 12,697 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

30%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 11,716 Reading residents head out of town to work, 981 work right here, and 5,974 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Reading.

11,716live here, work elsewhere

981live and work here

5,974work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Reading goes to work

Boston14.8 mi away

23%2,948

Reading (in town)right here

8%981

Cambridge11 mi away

6%739

Woburn4.1 mi away

5%574

Burlington5.4 mi away

3%429

Wakefield3 mi away

2%317

Waltham12.3 mi away

2%313

Wilmington3.6 mi away

2%300

Andover8.3 mi away

2%297

Somerville10 mi away

2%199

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%5,600

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

How far

How far Reading commutes

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

41%

49%

41%Under 10 mi

49%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Reading is a commuter town

0.55jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.55 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Reading are

6,955 jobs are based in Reading. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Reading’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Reading

6,955 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities28%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs Reading residents hold

12,697 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month12%

Over $3,333 a month77%

−3%

Jobs based in Reading, 2013 → 2023: 7,165 → 6,955. 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.