Beals at work: jobs, income and the commute
Commuters spend 21 minutes getting to work on average, next to 25 for Maine and 26 for the U.S. Employers in Beals report 106 jobs for 156 working residents. Working from home is the commute for 18% of workers, against 16% across Maine.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
In and out of Beals on a workday
On a workday 151 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 101 people come in from elsewhere.
About 400 people are in Beals on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.68 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.
22% of working residents work in Jonesport
Where Beals clocks in
22% of workers
17% 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 Beals
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Beals, 2013 → 2023: 66 → 106. 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 Beals’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Beals: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Beals workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 229 commuters (the 18% 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.
Beals’ commute, mile by mile
About 28% 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.
Work next door: 22% of Beals’ workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Jonesport. Darker towns draw more of Beals’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 Beals: questions
What is the median household income in Beals?
$64,063 (±$13,524) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Beals?
10.8%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Beals?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Beals work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jonesport (22%, 10 mi), Machias (17%, 19 mi), Jonesboro (8%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Beals 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 Beals, from the people who make the trip.
More of Beals
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.