Work & commute · Rochester

Work & commute in Rochester, NH

Most working residents leave Rochester for work: only 19% work in town. The top destinations are Portsmouth (14%), Dover (12%) and Somersworth (5%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19%

3,054 of 16,080 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 13,026 Rochester residents head out of town to work, 3,054 work right here, and 8,478 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Rochester.

13,026live here, work elsewhere

3,054live and work here

8,478work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Rochester goes to work

Rochester (in town)right here

19%3,054

Portsmouth19 mi away

14%2,214

Dover8.9 mi away

12%1,949

Somersworth5.4 mi away

5%776

Manchester31.9 mi away

3%547

Concord29.7 mi away

3%454

Newington16.5 mi away

2%396

Barrington6.4 mi away

2%379

Exeter21.3 mi away

2%327

Durham12.5 mi away

2%275

Everywhere elseother towns and states

36%5,709

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

How far

How far Rochester commutes

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

38%

33%

21%

38%Under 10 mi

33%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Rochester is a commuter town

0.72jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Rochester are

11,532 jobs are based in Rochester. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rochester’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Rochester

11,532 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities28%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Rochester residents hold

16,080 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+9%

Jobs based in Rochester, 2013 → 2023: 10,541 → 11,532. 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.