Maps Show ‘Class Divide’ in Foxborough

Foxborough is a community comprised mainly of the “creative class” with a strong representation of the “service class” share in town, according to a report by The Atlantic Cities, which uses a map to show how class lines divide within and among Census tracts.

Creativity reigns not only in Foxborough but in many of the other affluent suburbs to the north and west of town up through Boston, according to the Atlantic Cities report, which uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. 

In fact, the creative class—which includes professionals working in the science and technology, business, arts, media, law and healthcare industries—makes up about more than 41 percent of the metro area’s workforce. That’s just short of the service class, which includes food service, retail, clerical and administrative positions and comprises 43.4 percent of the regional workforce, the report says.

Members of the working class make up less than 15 percent of the regional workforce, according to the Atlantic Cities report, which contrasts that figure with the image of “Boston metro’s blue collar past as a port and center of textile and shoe manufacturing.”

According to the report, members of Metro Boston’s creative class earn an average of $84,403; the working class an average of $42,765 in wages and the service class an average of $33,738. All three of those are better than the national averages.

According to real estate data and demographic information compiled by NeighborhoodScout.com, “Foxborough is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 87.58 percent of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Foxborough is a town of professionals, managers and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Foxborough who work in management occupations (13.48 percent), office and administrative support (13.19 percent) and business and financial occupations (9.47 percent).”

NeighborhoodScout.com data also shows “Foxborough has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95 percent of the places in the U.S.”

Also of important note, “Foxborough is also a town of artists. Foxborough has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90 percent of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Foxborough’s character.”

The Atlantic Cities report draws Foxborough into four Census tracts that can be viewed as "South Foxborough," "North Foxborough,” “East Foxborough” and “West Foxborough.” The "South Foxborough" region includes the area South Street near The Foxborough Country Club, I-495 and the Plainville border. The "North Foxborough" region includes Route 1 near the Walpole and Sharon town lines. The "East Foxborough" area spans across Rte. 140 Main Street from the center of town towards the Mansfield town line. The "West Foxborough" region covers the other side of Rte. 140 towards Wrentham. 

Tract

Creative Class Share

Service Class

Working Class

South Foxborough

 39 percent

 49 percent

 12 percent

North Foxborough

 50 percent

 38 percent

 13 percent

East Foxborough

 56 percent

 31 percent

 12 percent

West Foxborough

 42 percent

 39 percent

 19 percent

Now, You Tell Us:

What do you think about these so-called "class divides?" A commenter who posted on a similar article published by Somerville Patch posited that the "creative class" is the new working class. Do you agree?