Dedham is a medium-sized town located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 24,997 people and six associated neighborhoods, Dedham is the 78th largest community in Massachusetts. Housing costs in Dedham are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Massachusetts.Dedham is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 87.79% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Dedham is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Dedham who work in management occupations (13.66%), office and administrative support (12.08%), and sales jobs (9.74%). Also of interest is that Dedham has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 15.60% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. One downside of living in Dedham is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Dedham, the average commute to work is 31.66 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the town, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative. Although the majority of commuting trips in the town are by private automobile, Dedham is somewhat unusual for a town of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the train helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Dedham area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.If knowledge is power, Dedham is a pretty powerful place. 55.79% of the adults in Dedham have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns. The per capita income in Dedham in 2022 was $65,381, which is upper middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $261,524 for a family of four. Dedham is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Dedham home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Dedham residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Dedham include Irish, Italian, English, German, and French. The most common language spoken in Dedham is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
