Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Households in Caribou earn less than those in 83% of U.S. towns
Caribou grades C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. The poverty rate is 15.5%, where Maine as a whole has 10.7%. About two in five work in Caribou itself; outside it, Presque Isle draws the most (23%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Caribou, in a few figures
The four measures behind Caribou’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Caribou is better than 21% of U.S. towns, #124 of 143 in Maine. Unemployment holds Caribou’s grade up (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 13% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Caribou could be anywhere from D− to B−.
About 15 minutes each way, quicker than most of Maine
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Caribou workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,780 commuters (the 13% 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.
In and out of Caribou on a workday
On a workday 1,762 residents head out to work, 1,252 work right here, and 1,986 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 (1.07 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.
Where Caribou’s working residents head each day
Where Caribou clocks in
23% of workers
3% 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.
What work there is in Caribou: 3,238 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Caribou, 2013 → 2023: 3,382 → 3,238. 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 Caribou’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Caribou commutes less than 10 miles
About 22% 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.
Few in Caribou walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Caribou is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #36 of 143 in Maine. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, the same share as across Maine, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,178 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). 11.9% of Caribou households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Caribou’s commuters take a bus or train.
Caribou is 2,636th of 3,154 U.S. towns of 5,100 to 9,900 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Cumberland ME | 8,876 | $174K | 3.1% | 0.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 317 | Cape Elizabeth ME | 9,827 | $146K | 5.2% | 2.5% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 373 | Buxton ME | 8,681 | $100K | 2.3% | 1.4% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,634 | University of California-Davis CA | 8,696 | $19K | 66.4% | 18.2% | 18% | C− |
| 2,635 | Orland CA | 8,381 | $65K | 16.9% | 5.0% | 15% | C− |
| 2,636 | Caribou ME | 7,321 | $54K | 15.5% | 3.4% | 42% | C− |
| 2,637 | Monticello KY | 5,721 | $45K | 30.4% | 2.0% | 28% | C− |
| 2,638 | Country Club Estates GA | 8,780 | $53K | 29.7% | 3.9% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,154 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Caribou, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
The towns next door employ 27% of Caribou
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Caribou workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caribou | – | C− | B+ | 15 min | $53,709 |
| Limestone | 2% | D | B | 19 min | $49,938 |
| Woodland | under 1% | D | D− | 20 min | $64,464 |
| Fort Fairfield | 2% | C− | D | 17 min | $70,852 |
| Presque Isle | 23% | C− | B | 14 min | $55,768 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Presque Isle. Darker towns draw more of Caribou’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 Caribou: questions
What is the median household income in Caribou?
$53,709 (±$9,143) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Caribou?
15.5%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Caribou?
15 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Caribou work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Presque Isle (23%, 11 mi), Bangor (3%, 145 mi), Easton (2%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Caribou walkable?
Caribou is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Caribou without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Caribou, from the people who make the trip.
More of Caribou
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.