Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainFewer people are out of work in Deer Isle (2.9%) than in 71% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Deer Isle itself; outside it, Stonington draws the most (22%, 9 miles). Deer Isle grades C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 22% of workers, where Maine as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Deer Isle
Deer Isle and Stonington trade workers both ways
Stonington is the top workplace for Deer Isle residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Deer Isle come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Deer Isle’s workforce skews older
39% of Deer Isle’s working residents are 55 or older. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Deer Isle are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 25 across Maine. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Maine worker. Time on the road ↓
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 584 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Deer Isle
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Deer Isle is better than 21% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Deer Isle’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Deer Isle could be anywhere from D− to B−.
Where Deer Isle’s working residents head each day
Where Deer Isle clocks in
22% of workers
8% of workers
4% 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.
28% of the jobs in Deer Isle make or build things
374 jobs are based in Deer Isle.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Deer Isle, 2013 → 2023: 357 → 374. 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 Deer Isle’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Deer Isle: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Deer Isle workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 859 commuters (the 22% 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.
Who works in Deer Isle, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 427 residents head out to work, 157 work right here, and 217 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Deer Isle on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.64 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 in the region Deer Isle works
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.
In Deer Isle, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Deer Isle is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,101 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). 7.3% of Deer Isle households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Deer Isle’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,939th of 5,404: where Deer Isle ranks among U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 285 | Dayton ME | 2,182 | $114K | 3.7% | 0.2% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 587 | Ogunquit ME | 1,606 | $114K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 639 | Pownal ME | 1,645 | $104K | 5.5% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,937 | Gaylord MN | 2,353 | $57K | 15.0% | 5.0% | 28% | C− |
| 3,938 | Cridersville OH | 1,767 | $55K | 18.2% | 6.5% | 2% | C− |
| 3,939 | Deer Isle ME | 2,132 | $62K | 19.1% | 2.9% | 27% | C− |
| 3,940 | Chateaugay NY | 1,727 | $84K | 17.0% | 2.8% | 11% | C− |
| 3,941 | Franklin Township OH | 1,739 | $79K | 16.2% | 5.9% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Deer Isle, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
24% of Deer Isle works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Deer Isle workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deer Isle | – | C− | B | 20 min | $62,284 |
| Stonington | 22% | D | B+ | 16 min | $60,223 |
| North Haven | under 2% | — | — | 9 min | — |
| Brooksville | 1% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Brooklin | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Islesboro | under 2% | — | — | 8 min | — |
| Swans Island | under 2% | — | — | 12 min | — |
| Sedgwick | 1% | D | C+ | 23 min | $70,446 |
Same-state neighbors only. North Haven, Brooksville, Brooklin, Islesboro and Swans Island: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Stonington. Darker towns draw more of Deer Isle’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 Deer Isle: questions
What is the median household income in Deer Isle?
$62,284 (±$15,363) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Deer Isle?
19.1%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Deer Isle?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Deer Isle work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Stonington (22%, 9 mi), Blue Hill (8%, 18 mi), Portland (4%, 81 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Deer Isle walkable?
Deer Isle is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Deer Isle without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Deer Isle, from the people who make the trip.
More of Deer Isle
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.