Photo: HELVETIQ · CC BY 2.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Bristol works elsewhere
Working from home is the commute for 25% of workers (Maine 16%). There are 496 jobs in Bristol for 923 working residents. For jobs and income Bristol is better than 39% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Bristol stands out on work
Bristol makes and builds things
48% of the jobs based in Bristol are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Bristol residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 18%. The jobs ↓
Bristol has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Bristol went from 340 in 2013 to 496 in 2023, +46%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Bristol are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 25 across Maine. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Maine 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 923 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Bristol
Household income holds Bristol’s grade up ($100,750, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bristol could be anywhere from C− to A−.
In Bristol, 48% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bristol, 2013 → 2023: 340 → 496. 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 Bristol’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Bristol’s commute takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bristol workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 787 commuters (the 25% 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.
Who works in Bristol, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 775 residents head out to work, 148 work right here, and 348 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Bristol on a workday afternoon, 14% 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 Damariscotta
Where Bristol clocks in
14% of workers
8% of workers
4% 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.
How many miles Bristol commutes
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.
In Bristol, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 6.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,050 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). 1.8% of Bristol households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bristol’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,738th of 4,618: where Bristol ranks among U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 295 | Dayton ME | 2,182 | $114K | 3.7% | 0.2% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 904 | Orrington ME | 3,912 | $95K | 6.6% | 1.7% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 973 | Kennebunkport ME | 3,717 | $103K | 4.6% | 3.7% | 14% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,736 | McChord AFB WA | 2,999 | $55K | 14.4% | 0.0% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,737 | Odem TX | 2,291 | $69K | 11.5% | 5.9% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,738 | Bristol ME | 2,969 | $101K | 6.4% | 7.7% | 16% | C+ |
| 2,739 | Tuscarora Township MI | 3,113 | $66K | 11.7% | 2.1% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,740 | Johnson Township OH | 3,135 | $60K | 7.4% | 5.6% | 12% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Bristol, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
22% of Bristol works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Damariscotta (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bristol workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | – | C+ | B | 18 min | $100,750 |
| South Bristol | under 3% | C | B+ | 17 min | $69,211 |
| Bremen | 4% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| St. George | under 3% | B+ | C | 25 min | $89,155 |
| Newcastle | 4% | A− | B+ | 17 min | $89,868 |
| Monhegan plantation | under 3% | — | — | 9 min | — |
| Damariscotta | 14% | C− | B | 23 min | $59,423 |
| Friendship | under 3% | C | C+ | 25 min | $75,625 |
Same-state neighbors only. Bremen and Monhegan plantation: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bristol’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 Bristol: questions
What is the median household income in Bristol?
$100,750 (±$18,862) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bristol?
6.4%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bristol?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bristol work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Damariscotta (14%, 9 mi), Portland (8%, 40 mi), Bath (4%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bristol walkable?
Bristol is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bristol without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bristol, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bristol
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.