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Work & commute in North Boston · A commuter town

96% of North Boston’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave North Boston for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Buffalo (20%), Hamburg (11%) and Orchard Park (9%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Work in town
4%
48 of 1,183 working residents
Typical commute
15 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
22 min
Less than NY (33 min)
Work from home
11%
Less than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
648
A commuter town

What kind of work town is North Boston?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

20% of working residents work in Buffalo

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Buffalo: 232 residents work here (20%)Boston: 89 residents work here (8%)YorkshireEdenAmherst: 97 residents work here (8%)Concord: 23 residents work here (2%)West Seneca: 41 residents work here (3%)Orchard Park: 106 residents work here (9%)Tonawanda: 30 residents work here (3%)Lancaster: 25 residents work here (2%)EvansCheektowaga: 65 residents work here (5%)Hamburg: 125 residents work here (11%)North BostonBuffaloHamburgOrchard ParkAmherstBostonCheektowagaNorth Boston
1
Buffalo15.4 mi away
20%232
2
Hamburg5.8 mi away
11%125
3
Orchard Park5.6 mi away
9%106
4
Amherst23.1 mi away
8%97
5
Boston2.1 mi away
8%89
6
Cheektowaga16.2 mi away
5%65
7
West Seneca11.2 mi away
3%41
8
Tonawanda21.7 mi away
3%30
9
Lancaster17.8 mi away
2%25
10
Concord10.5 mi away
2%23
Everywhere elseother towns and states
30%350
The top trips

Where North Boston clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

The jobs

What the 648 jobs in North Boston are

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

Jobs based in North BostonJobs North Boston residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms8%20%
Trade, transport & utilities19%17%
Services: health, schools, offices73%63%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less37%16%
$1,251–$3,333 a month32%20%
Over $3,333 a month31%64%

Who does it

29 or younger51%23%
30 to 5432%46%
55 and older17%31%
+136%

Jobs based in North Boston, 2013 → 2023: 274 → 648. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Time on the road

About 22 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
165 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

North Boston22 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
11%

of North Boston workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
Day and night

North Boston quiets down on a workday

On a workday 1,135 residents head out to work, 48 work right here, and 600 people come in from elsewhere.

1,135live here, work elsewhere
48live and work here
600work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night2,400
Workday1,800
2,400live here− 1,100head out to work+ 600come in to work= 1,800on a workday

About 1,800 people are in North Boston on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.55jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of North Boston commutes less than 15 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi30 miBuffalo: 20% · 15.4 miHamburg: 11% · 5.8 miOrchard Park: 9% · 5.6 miAmherst: 8% · 23.1 miBoston: 8% · 2.1 miCheektowaga: 5% · 16.2 miWest Seneca: 3% · 11.2 miTonawanda: 3% · 21.7 miLancaster: 2% · 17.8 miConcord: 2% · 10.5 miBuffalo 20%Hamburg 11%Orchard Park 9%Amherst 8%Boston 8%North Boston
North BostonTop destinations (size = commuters)
32%Under 10 mi374 residents
52%10–24 mi620 residents
7%25–50 mi84 residents
9%Over 50 mi104 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

Next door

19% of North Boston works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Hamburg (11%). Darker towns draw more of North Boston’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

North Boston22 min
Hamburg23 min
Boston24 min
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of North Boston

North Boston home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from North Boston, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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