Work & commute · Wakefield

Work & commute in Wakefield, MA

Most working residents leave Wakefield for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (24%), Cambridge (6%) and Woburn (4%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1,299 of 14,065 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

33 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

25%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 12,766 Wakefield residents head out of town to work, 1,299 work right here, and 12,035 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wakefield.

12,766live here, work elsewhere

1,299live and work here

12,035work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wakefield goes to work

Boston12.1 mi away

24%3,336

Wakefield (in town)right here

9%1,299

Cambridge9.3 mi away

6%783

Woburn4.7 mi away

4%542

Burlington7 mi away

3%361

Waltham12.1 mi away

3%358

Medford6 mi away

2%274

Peabody5.3 mi away

2%274

Melrose3.4 mi away

2%258

Danvers7.5 mi away

2%245

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%6,335

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

How far

How far Wakefield commutes

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

55%

36%

55%Under 10 mi

36%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

3%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wakefield is balanced between jobs and homes

0.95jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.95 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Wakefield are

13,334 jobs are based in Wakefield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wakefield’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Wakefield

13,334 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month73%

Jobs Wakefield residents hold

14,065 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month13%

Over $3,333 a month76%

−2%

Jobs based in Wakefield, 2013 → 2023: 13,662 → 13,334. 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.