Work & commute · Wellesley

Work & commute in Wellesley, MA

Most working residents leave Wellesley for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Boston (33%), Cambridge (8%) and Newton (4%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

1,336 of 11,427 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

32%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 10,091 Wellesley residents head out of town to work, 1,336 work right here, and 16,119 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wellesley.

10,091live here, work elsewhere

1,336live and work here

16,119work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wellesley goes to work

Boston13.9 mi away

33%3,763

Wellesley (in town)right here

12%1,336

Cambridge9.7 mi away

8%870

Newton4.2 mi away

4%435

Waltham6.1 mi away

4%400

Framingham7.8 mi away

2%249

Natick3.7 mi away

2%230

Needham2.7 mi away

2%197

Burlington14.2 mi away

1%156

Lexington10 mi away

1%150

Everywhere elseother towns and states

32%3,641

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

How far

How far Wellesley commutes

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

41%

50%

41%Under 10 mi

50%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wellesley is a job hub

1.53jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Wellesley are

17,455 jobs are based in Wellesley. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wellesley’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Wellesley

17,455 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)1%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)89%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month13%

Over $3,333 a month70%

Jobs Wellesley residents hold

11,427 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)84%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month9%

Over $3,333 a month79%

+7%

Jobs based in Wellesley, 2013 → 2023: 16,252 → 17,455. 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.