Photo: Hugh Manatee at en.wikipedia · Public domainMost of Brownville commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Brownville report 109 jobs, against 432 working residents. Brownville grades D for jobs and income and C− for walkability. 7% of workers work from home (Maine 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Brownville
Brownville workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 25 across Maine. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 92 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% 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 ↓
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 432 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Brownville: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Brownville is better than 8% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Brownville’s grade up ($64,063, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (11.6%) is left out: Brownville’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, Brownville could be anywhere from D− to C−.
About 37 minutes to work from Brownville
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brownville workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 331 commuters (the 7% 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.
How far Brownville goes to work
About 34% 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.
Brownville by day and by night
On a workday 382 residents head out to work, 50 work right here, and 59 people come in from elsewhere.
About 830 people are in Brownville on a workday afternoon, 28% 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.
15% of working residents work in Milo
Where Brownville clocks in
15% of workers
11% of workers
7% 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.
A place that makes things: 30% of Brownville’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brownville, 2013 → 2023: 81 → 109. 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 Brownville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Brownville, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brownville is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Brownville near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 355 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). 10.4% of Brownville households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brownville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600, Brownville comes 3,694th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 689 | Edgecomb ME | 1,214 | $109K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,052 | Georgetown ME | 1,101 | $84K | 6.3% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,115 | South Thomaston ME | 1,520 | $87K | 4.2% | 0.0% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,692 | Republic WA | 1,016 | $60K | 16.4% | 17.0% | 42% | D |
| 3,693 | Brooks ME | 1,023 | $59K | 19.1% | 4.4% | 2% | D |
| 3,694 | Brownville ME | 1,153 | $64K | 18.3% | 11.6% | 12% | D |
| 3,695 | Sibley LA | 1,068 | $42K | 24.2% | 2.4% | 2% | D |
| 3,696 | Shannon MS | 1,496 | $42K | 24.1% | 8.9% | 4% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Brownville, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Bordering towns draw 15% of Brownville’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brownville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brownville | – | D | C− | 37 min | $64,063 |
| Lake View plantation | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Milo | 15% | C | C+ | 42 min | $56,875 |
Same-state neighbors only. Lake View plantation: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Milo. Darker towns draw more of Brownville’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 Brownville: questions
What is the median household income in Brownville?
$64,063 (±$14,924) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brownville?
18.3%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brownville?
37 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brownville work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milo (15%, 6 mi), Bangor (11%, 38 mi), Dover-Foxcroft (7%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brownville walkable?
Brownville is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brownville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brownville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brownville
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.