Work & commute · Boston

Work & commute in Boston, NY

Most working residents leave Boston for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Buffalo (19%), Hamburg (12%) and Orchard Park (9%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

247 of 3,788 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,541 Boston residents head out of town to work, 247 work right here, and 800 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Boston.

3,541live here, work elsewhere

247live and work here

800work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Boston goes to work

Buffalo17.4 mi away

19%724

Hamburg7.9 mi away

12%442

Orchard Park7 mi away

9%340

Amherst24.8 mi away

9%331

Boston (in town)right here

7%247

Cheektowaga17.8 mi away

6%211

West Seneca12.8 mi away

4%151

Aurora8.4 mi away

2%82

Tonawanda23.6 mi away

2%82

Lancaster18.9 mi away

2%76

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%1,102

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

How far

How far Boston commutes

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

29%

53%

29%Under 10 mi

53%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Boston is a commuter town

0.28jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Boston are

1,047 jobs are based in Boston. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Boston’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Boston

1,047 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less30%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month38%

Jobs Boston residents hold

3,788 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+42%

Jobs based in Boston, 2013 → 2023: 736 → 1,047. 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.