Work & commute · Spencer

Work & commute in Spencer, MA

Most working residents leave Spencer for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Worcester (21%), Boston (6%) and Auburn (3%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

594 of 6,155 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

34 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 5,561 Spencer residents head out of town to work, 594 work right here, and 2,127 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Spencer.

5,561live here, work elsewhere

594live and work here

2,127work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Spencer goes to work

Worcester9.5 mi away

21%1,295

Spencer (in town)right here

10%594

Boston50.4 mi away

6%391

Auburn8.2 mi away

3%209

Shrewsbury14.4 mi away

2%135

Charlton7.9 mi away

2%131

Marlborough23.8 mi away

2%123

Westborough19.4 mi away

2%120

Leicester4.1 mi away

2%108

Sturbridge11 mi away

2%108

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%2,941

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

How far

How far Spencer commutes

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

31%

34%

28%

31%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

28%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Spencer is a commuter town

0.44jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Spencer are

2,721 jobs are based in Spencer. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Spencer’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Spencer

2,721 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)33%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Spencer residents hold

6,155 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month68%

−9%

Jobs based in Spencer, 2013 → 2023: 2,995 → 2,721. 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.