Photo: Cinclemflt · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Anson works elsewhere
For jobs and income Anson is better than 17% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (C+). Anson has 362 jobs, against 862 working residents. Household incomes here are lower than in 85% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Anson and work: the main findings
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Anson workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 25 across Maine. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Anson workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 16% across Maine. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 862 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Anson: the grade in detail
The poverty rate holds Anson’s grade up (8.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 7% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.8%) is left out: Anson’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Anson could be anywhere from D to C+.
How many miles Anson commutes
About 31% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Getting to work from Anson takes about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Anson workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 880 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Maine: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
In and out of Anson on a workday
On a workday 752 residents head out to work, 110 work right here, and 252 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Anson on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
14% of working residents work in Skowhegan
Where Anson clocks in
14% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The kinds of work in Anson
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Anson, 2013 → 2023: 426 → 362. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Anson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Anson, most people drive to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 4.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 907 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.0% of Anson households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Anson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100, Anson comes 4,170th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 287 | Dayton ME | 2,182 | $114K | 3.7% | 0.2% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 598 | Ogunquit ME | 1,606 | $114K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 655 | Pownal ME | 1,645 | $104K | 5.5% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,168 | Davisboro GA | 1,826 | $49K | 9.1% | 9.2% | 1% | C− |
| 4,169 | Lexington OK | 2,046 | $47K | 25.7% | 5.5% | 10% | C− |
| 4,170 | Anson ME | 2,333 | $52K | 8.8% | 3.8% | 13% | C− |
| 4,171 | Colfax Township MI | 1,704 | $69K | 17.3% | 4.9% | 11% | C− |
| 4,172 | Wright Township MI | 1,600 | $54K | 10.9% | 6.9% | 5% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Anson, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Around Anson: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Madison (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Anson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anson | – | C− | C+ | 33 min | $52,474 |
| Madison | 5% | C+ | B | 27 min | $61,747 |
| Embden | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| New Portland | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Industry | under 2% | — | — | 41 min | — |
| New Vineyard | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Starks | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Embden, New Portland, Industry, New Vineyard and Starks: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Anson’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Anson: questions
What is the median household income in Anson?
$52,474 (±$20,502) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Anson?
8.8%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Anson?
33 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Anson work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Skowhegan (14%, 16 mi), Waterville (5%, 25 mi), Madison (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Anson walkable?
Anson is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Anson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Anson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Anson
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.