Photo: King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Camden (8.3%) is higher than in 89% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Camden is better than 32% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (A−). Working residents average 22 minutes each way, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. Measured by household income, Camden is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Camden apart
The figures behind Camden’s Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Camden’s grade up ($82,344, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Camden could be anywhere from C− to B+.
What work there is in Camden: 1,955 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Camden, 2013 → 2023: 1,948 → 1,955. 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 Camden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,211 residents head out to work, 370 work right here, and 1,585 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
18% of working residents work in Rockport
Where Camden clocks in
18% of workers
11% of workers
6% 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.
Commuting from Camden: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Camden workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,590 commuters (the 21% 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.
Where in the region Camden works
About 16% 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.
Camden is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,020 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). 6.4% of Camden households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Camden’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,640th of 3,696: where Camden ranks among U.S. towns of 3,600 to 7,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 356 | North Yarmouth ME | 4,424 | $129K | 4.8% | 1.9% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 748 | Arundel ME | 4,596 | $102K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 777 | Hollis ME | 5,003 | $96K | 5.7% | 1.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,638 | Warrensburg NY | 3,937 | $61K | 14.7% | 2.8% | 17% | C |
| 2,639 | Bessemer City NC | 5,834 | $60K | 16.4% | 5.9% | 4% | C |
| 2,640 | Camden ME | 5,204 | $82K | 9.0% | 8.3% | 23% | C |
| 2,641 | Lockport Township MI | 3,825 | $74K | 13.0% | 6.9% | 2% | C |
| 2,642 | Alexandria NY | 3,632 | $85K | 7.1% | 7.1% | 27% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,696 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Camden, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Camden and its neighbors: 18% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Camden workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camden | – | C | A− | 22 min | $82,344 |
| Rockport | 18% | B− | B | 11 min | $86,979 |
| North Haven | under 2% | — | — | 9 min | — |
| Lincolnville | under 2% | C | B | 20 min | $81,928 |
| Hope | under 2% | B− | B− | 20 min | $86,766 |
| Islesboro | under 2% | — | — | 8 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. North Haven and Islesboro: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Rockport. Darker towns draw more of Camden’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 Camden: questions
What is the median household income in Camden?
$82,344 (±$15,268) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Camden?
9.0%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Camden?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Camden work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockport (18%, 4 mi), Rockland (11%, 8 mi), Belfast (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Camden walkable?
Camden is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Camden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Camden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Camden
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.