Olson House · Photo: Ryan Prescott · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Cushing commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Cushing report 98 jobs for 532 working residents. Cushing grades C+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 4% work in Cushing; the top destination outside it is Rockland (16%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Cushing: the gist
The four measures behind Cushing’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Cushing is better than 43% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Cushing’s grade up (7.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 12% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (3.6%) is left out: Cushing’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, Cushing could be anywhere from C− to B+.
A workday in Cushing: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 512 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 78 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Cushing on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
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 Cushing’s working residents head each day
Where Cushing clocks in
16% of workers
9% 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.
Cushing works in goods: 54% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cushing, 2013 → 2023: 84 → 98. 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 Cushing’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Cushing: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cushing workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 590 commuters (the 19% 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 distance from Cushing to work
About 20% 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 Cushing walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cushing is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% of 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 724 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). 2.2% of Cushing households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cushing’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Cushing is 2,640th among 6,308 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 515 | Ogunquit ME | 1,606 | $114K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 556 | Pownal ME | 1,645 | $104K | 5.5% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 614 | Newcastle ME | 1,915 | $90K | 3.5% | 0.0% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,638 | Royal Palm Estates FL | 1,369 | $61K | 16.9% | 7.1% | <1% | C+ |
| 2,639 | Charleston ME | 1,644 | $75K | 6.4% | 1.6% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,640 | Cushing ME | 1,482 | $84K | 7.7% | 3.6% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,641 | Becket MA | 1,922 | $80K | 12.1% | 3.6% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,642 | Patrick AFB FL | 1,644 | $76K | 15.4% | 3.2% | 0% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 Cushing, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Cushing and its neighbors: 22% work next door
The biggest share goes to Thomaston (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cushing workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cushing | – | C+ | C− | 23 min | $83,500 |
| Friendship | 6% | C | C+ | 25 min | $75,625 |
| St. George | under 3% | B+ | C | 25 min | $89,155 |
| South Thomaston | under 3% | B | C | 16 min | $86,838 |
| Thomaston | 9% | C+ | C | 14 min | $56,435 |
| Warren | 7% | B+ | C+ | 23 min | $74,616 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cushing’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 Cushing: questions
What is the median household income in Cushing?
$83,500 (±$18,685) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cushing?
7.7%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cushing?
23 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cushing work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockland (16%, 10 mi), Thomaston (9%, 8 mi), Warren (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cushing walkable?
Cushing is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cushing without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cushing, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cushing
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.