Whitney Farm · Photo: Whitney Farm · CC BY-SA 4.0Appleton has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income C−: better than 15% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability D: more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns.
Household incomes here are lower than in 83% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 30 minutes each way (Maine 25, U.S. 26). Only 6% work in Appleton; the top destination outside it is Rockport (12%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Appleton
Appleton is a place people come home to
There are 160 jobs based in Appleton, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Appleton has about 1,100 people in it, 25% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Appleton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 25 across Maine. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. 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 530 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Appleton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Appleton is better than 15% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Appleton’s grade up (9.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 7% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (1.8%) is left out: Appleton’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Appleton could be anywhere from D− to B−.
Appleton quiets down on a workday
On a workday 497 residents head out to work, 33 work right here, and 127 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Appleton on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.30 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.
About 30 minutes each way, longer than most of Maine
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Appleton workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 611 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Maine: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
12% of working residents work in Rockport
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Appleton clocks in
12% of workers
11% of workers
9% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Appleton makes things: 37% of its jobs are in goods
160 jobs are based in Appleton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Appleton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Appleton, 2013 → 2023: 62 → 160. 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.
Half of Appleton 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.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Most trips from Appleton start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Appleton is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 3.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 687 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). 14.0% of Appleton households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Appleton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Appleton is 4,745th of 6,308 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Appleton, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 515 | Ogunquit ME | 1,606 | $114K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 556 | Pownal ME | 1,645 | $104K | 5.5% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 614 | Newcastle ME | 1,915 | $90K | 3.5% | 0.0% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,743 | Bessemer MI | 1,787 | $54K | 12.9% | 4.9% | 23% | C− |
| 4,744 | Flemington PA | 1,256 | $54K | 17.6% | 1.8% | 5% | C− |
| 4,745 | Appleton ME | 1,469 | $54K | 9.7% | 1.8% | 6% | C− |
| 4,746 | Davis Township MO | 1,102 | $56K | 9.6% | 3.7% | 8% | C− |
| 4,747 | Ellington NY | 1,477 | $65K | 18.0% | 5.1% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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.
Appleton and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Hope (7%). Darker towns draw more of Appleton’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Appleton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appleton | – | C− | D | 30 min | $53,618 |
| Hope | 7% | B− | B− | 20 min | $86,766 |
| Searsmont | under 4% | B− | B− | 25 min | $87,000 |
| Union | under 4% | C+ | B− | 29 min | $80,724 |
| Liberty | under 4% | — | — | 38 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Liberty: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Appleton: questions
What is the median household income in Appleton?
$53,618 (±$19,015) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Appleton?
9.7%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Appleton?
30 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Appleton work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockport (12%, 12 mi), Rockland (11%, 14 mi), Camden (9%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Appleton walkable?
Appleton is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Appleton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Appleton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Appleton
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.