Work & commute · West Brookfield

Work & commute in West Brookfield, MA

Most working residents leave West Brookfield for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Worcester (10%), Boston (6%) and Spencer (4%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

173 of 1,773 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

42 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,600 West Brookfield residents head out of town to work, 173 work right here, and 619 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in West Brookfield.

1,600live here, work elsewhere

173live and work here

619work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where West Brookfield goes to work

Worcester18.2 mi away

10%184

West Brookfield (in town)right here

10%173

Boston59 mi away

6%107

Spencer8.7 mi away

4%70

Ware6.2 mi away

4%68

Sturbridge10.8 mi away

4%66

Charlton12.8 mi away

2%44

Palmer Town8.5 mi away

2%41

Cambridge54.1 mi away

2%35

Southbridge Town14.7 mi away

2%31

Everywhere elseother towns and states

54%954

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

How far

How far West Brookfield commutes

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

25%

35%

20%

21%

25%Under 10 mi

35%10–24 mi

20%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

West Brookfield is a commuter town

0.45jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in West Brookfield are

792 jobs are based in West Brookfield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs West Brookfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in West Brookfield

792 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs West Brookfield residents hold

1,773 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month67%

−3%

Jobs based in West Brookfield, 2013 → 2023: 815 → 792. 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.