Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Masonbarge assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY 2.5Households in Castine have higher incomes than those in 86% of U.S. towns
14.1% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.7% across Maine. The two grades for Castine are C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in five work in Castine; the top destination outside it is Blue Hill (9%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Castine and work: the main findings
Commutes from Castine are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 25 across Maine. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Maine worker. Time on the road ↓
Castine’s workforce skews older
37% of Castine’s working residents are 55 or older. The jobs ↓
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 406 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Castine
On income, poverty and job access, Castine is better than 36% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Castine’s grade up ($113,750, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 5% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.7%) is left out: Castine’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, Castine could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The trip to work from Castine: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Castine workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 546 commuters (the 12% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
554 jobs are based in Castine.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Castine, 2013 → 2023: 725 → 554. 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 Castine’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Castine on a workday
On a workday 326 residents head out to work, 80 work right here, and 474 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Castine on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.36 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.
The towns that employ Castine’s residents
Where Castine clocks in
9% of workers
8% 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.
How far Castine’s workers travel
About 21% 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.
Castine is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Castine is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 36.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 618 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). 6.5% of Castine households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Castine’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Castine is 2,672nd of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 428 | Ogunquit ME | 1,606 | $114K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 460 | Pownal ME | 1,645 | $104K | 5.5% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 894 | Edgecomb ME | 1,214 | $109K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,670 | Painted Post NY | 1,704 | $63K | 12.4% | 9.1% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,671 | Saxonburg PA | 1,368 | $45K | 10.4% | 2.8% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,672 | Castine ME | 1,310 | $114K | 14.1% | 2.7% | 20% | C+ |
| 2,673 | Lincoln Township MI | 1,508 | $70K | 6.7% | 2.5% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,674 | Antrim Township OH | 1,129 | $67K | 10.1% | 2.2% | <1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | 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 Castine, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Work in the towns next to Castine
The biggest share goes to Penobscot (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Castine workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castine | – | C+ | A− | 14 min | $113,750 |
| Brooksville | under 3% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Penobscot | 4% | D | B− | 25 min | $63,194 |
| Islesboro | under 3% | — | — | 8 min | — |
| Stockton Springs | under 3% | C− | C | 30 min | $74,886 |
| Searsport | under 3% | C | C− | 22 min | $64,303 |
Same-state neighbors only. Brooksville and Islesboro: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Castine’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 Castine: questions
What is the median household income in Castine?
$113,750 (±$26,100) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Castine?
14.1%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Castine?
14 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Castine work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Blue Hill (9%, 14 mi), Ellsworth (8%, 19 mi), Bangor (6%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Castine walkable?
Castine is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 36% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Castine 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 Castine, from the people who make the trip.
More of Castine
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.