Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0At 11.5%, unemployment in Bucksport is higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
Bucksport grades C for jobs and income and D for walkability. About one in seven work in Bucksport; the top destination outside it is Bangor (20%, 13 miles). The trip to work takes 28 minutes on average, next to 25 for Maine and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Bucksport: the gist
The figures behind Bucksport’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bucksport is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #119 of 143 in Maine. The poverty rate holds Bucksport’s grade up (6.7%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bucksport could be anywhere from D to B.
What work there is in Bucksport: 1,151 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bucksport, 2014 → 2024: 1,951 → 1,151. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bucksport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Bucksport by day and by night
On a workday 1,659 residents head out to work, 296 work right here, and 855 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Bucksport on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.59 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 2024, primary jobs.
Out of Bucksport to work: where people go
Where Bucksport clocks in
20% of workers
6% 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.
Getting to work from Bucksport takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bucksport workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,012 commuters (the 10% 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 Bucksport goes to work
About 17% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
For most of Bucksport, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bucksport is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns, #124 of 143 in Maine. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.0% across Maine.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,237 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). 9.8% of Bucksport households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bucksport’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,758 U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,800, Bucksport comes 2,931st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 346 | North Yarmouth ME | 4,424 | $129K | 4.8% | 1.9% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 742 | Arundel ME | 4,596 | $102K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 772 | Hollis ME | 5,003 | $96K | 5.7% | 1.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,929 | Quincy Township PA | 5,283 | $63K | 10.4% | 6.8% | 7% | C |
| 2,930 | Lamar MO | 4,337 | $37K | 32.6% | 0.0% | 31% | C |
| 2,931 | Bucksport ME | 5,066 | $65K | 6.7% | 11.5% | 15% | C |
| 2,932 | City Township MO | 4,337 | $37K | 32.6% | 0.0% | 31% | C |
| 2,933 | Longview Heights WA | 4,357 | $75K | 11.2% | 9.9% | <1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,758 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Bucksport, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Work in the towns next to Bucksport
The biggest share goes to Orland (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bucksport workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucksport | – | C | D | 28 min | $64,720 |
| Orland | 3% | B− | C | 40 min | $69,348 |
| Winterport | under 3% | B+ | C− | 32 min | $98,333 |
| Prospect | under 3% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Orrington | under 3% | A− | C− | 21 min | $94,556 |
| Verona Island | under 3% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Frankfort | under 3% | C− | C− | 32 min | $80,000 |
| Dedham | under 3% | B− | C− | 30 min | $111,442 |
| Holden | under 3% | B | D | 25 min | $92,200 |
Same-state neighbors only. Prospect and Verona Island: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bucksport’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 2024, 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 Bucksport: questions
What is the median household income in Bucksport?
$64,720 (±$21,432) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bucksport?
6.7%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bucksport?
28 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bucksport work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bangor (20%, 13 mi), Ellsworth (6%, 14 mi), Belfast (5%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Bucksport walkable?
Bucksport is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bucksport 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 Bucksport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bucksport
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.