Work & commute · Watertown

Work & commute in Watertown, MA

Most working residents leave Watertown for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (29%), Cambridge (14%) and Waltham (6%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1,532 of 18,208 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

29%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 16,676 Watertown residents head out of town to work, 1,532 work right here, and 14,937 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Watertown.

16,676live here, work elsewhere

1,532live and work here

14,937work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Watertown goes to work

Boston8.8 mi away

29%5,351

Cambridge3.1 mi away

14%2,494

Watertown (in town)right here

8%1,532

Waltham3.5 mi away

6%1,085

Newton3 mi away

5%963

Lexington5.9 mi away

2%320

Belmont1.8 mi away

2%312

Somerville4.2 mi away

2%286

Burlington9.3 mi away

2%275

Brookline3.6 mi away

1%265

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%5,325

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

How far

How far Watertown commutes

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

80%

14%

80%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

3%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Watertown is balanced between jobs and homes

0.90jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.90 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Watertown are

16,469 jobs are based in Watertown. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Watertown’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Watertown

16,469 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month16%

Over $3,333 a month75%

Jobs Watertown residents hold

18,208 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)81%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month13%

Over $3,333 a month78%

−4%

Jobs based in Watertown, 2013 → 2023: 17,217 → 16,469. 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.