Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Cherryfield have lower incomes than those in 97% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Cherryfield; the top destination outside it is Milbridge (13%, 12 miles). 26.3% of residents live below the poverty line; Maine has 10.7%. Jobs and income earn Cherryfield D−; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Cherryfield, in a few figures
Jobs & income in Cherryfield: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Cherryfield is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Cherryfield’s grade.
Unemployment (6.4%) is left out: Cherryfield’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Cherryfield stays D−.
About 30 minutes to work from Cherryfield
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cherryfield workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 233 commuters (the 18% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Cherryfield
On a workday 290 residents head out to work, 38 work right here, and 243 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 (0.86 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 Cherryfield goes to work
Where Cherryfield clocks in
13% of workers
8% 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.
Goods, not services: 60% of the jobs in Cherryfield
281 jobs are based in Cherryfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cherryfield, 2013 → 2023: 259 → 281. 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 Cherryfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Cherryfield
About 19% 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.
Most of Cherryfield commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cherryfield is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 23.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 4.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 285 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). 12.3% of Cherryfield households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 12% of Cherryfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Cherryfield and other U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 587 | Edgecomb ME | 1,214 | $109K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 904 | Georgetown ME | 1,101 | $84K | 6.3% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,008 | Wayne ME | 1,167 | $93K | 7.9% | 1.3% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,731 | Sneedville TN | 1,349 | $25K | 48.4% | 14.2% | 23% | D− |
| 3,732 | Sabinal TX | 1,378 | $34K | 36.5% | 7.8% | 5% | D− |
| 3,733 | Cherryfield ME | 1,093 | $37K | 26.3% | 6.4% | 12% | D− |
| 3,734 | Keeler Farm NM | 1,376 | $44K | 50.4% | 27.3% | 1% | D− |
| 3,735 | Fort Thompson SD | 1,147 | $47K | 41.6% | 10.5% | 27% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | 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 Cherryfield, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
23% of Cherryfield works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cherryfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherryfield | – | D− | B | 30 min | $37,115 |
| Steuben | 8% | C+ | C | 28 min | $76,466 |
| Columbia | under 3% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Harrington | 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Milbridge | 13% | D | B | 18 min | $60,536 |
| Deblois | under 3% | — | — | 21 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Columbia, Harrington and Deblois: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Milbridge. Darker towns draw more of Cherryfield’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 Cherryfield: questions
What is the median household income in Cherryfield?
$37,115 (±$16,581) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cherryfield?
26.3%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cherryfield?
30 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cherryfield work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milbridge (13%, 12 mi), Steuben (8%, 10 mi), Ellsworth (7%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cherryfield walkable?
Cherryfield is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 4.8 out of 20, and 23% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cherryfield without a car?
12% 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 Cherryfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cherryfield
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.