Work & commute · Waltham

Work & commute in Waltham, MA

Most working residents leave Waltham for work: only 19% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (21%), Cambridge (8%) and Newton (5%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19%

5,681 of 30,156 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 24,475 Waltham residents head out of town to work, 5,681 work right here, and 58,420 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waltham.

24,475live here, work elsewhere

5,681live and work here

58,420work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waltham goes to work

Boston12.3 mi away

21%6,252

Waltham (in town)right here

19%5,681

Cambridge6.3 mi away

8%2,282

Newton4.3 mi away

5%1,649

Watertown3.5 mi away

3%870

Lexington3.9 mi away

2%718

Framingham11.4 mi away

2%627

Burlington8.2 mi away

2%599

Woburn8.2 mi away

2%482

Belmont3.1 mi away

1%405

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%10,591

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

How far

How far Waltham commutes

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

71%

21%

71%Under 10 mi

21%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waltham is a job hub

2.13jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Waltham are

64,101 jobs are based in Waltham. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waltham’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Waltham

64,101 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month12%

Over $3,333 a month80%

Jobs Waltham residents hold

30,156 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month74%

+12%

Jobs based in Waltham, 2013 → 2023: 57,083 → 64,101. 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.