Dexter Grist Mill · Photo: HalstynGuenther · CC BY-SA 4.0Dexter has lower household incomes than 86% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Dexter itself; outside it, Bangor draws the most (10%, 28 miles). 23.1% of residents live below the poverty line (Maine 10.7%). Jobs and income earn Dexter C−; 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 Dexter: the figures worth knowing
How Dexter earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dexter is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #125 of 143 in Maine. Unemployment holds Dexter’s grade up (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 7% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dexter could be anywhere from D to C+.
Dexter’s commute, mile by mile
About 24% 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.
How many people are in Dexter by day
On a workday 1,132 residents head out to work, 229 work right here, and 587 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Dexter on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.60 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 the trip to work from Dexter ends
Where Dexter clocks in
10% of workers
7% 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.
The 816 jobs based in Dexter
816 jobs are based in Dexter.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dexter, 2013 → 2023: 805 → 816. 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 Dexter’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Dexter takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dexter workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,513 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.
Most trips from Dexter start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dexter is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns, #55 of 143 in Maine. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 6.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,721 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). 12.6% of Dexter households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dexter’s commuters take a bus or train.
Dexter next to U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200: 3,459th of 4,264 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 342 | North Yarmouth ME | 4,424 | $129K | 4.8% | 1.9% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 742 | Arundel ME | 4,596 | $102K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 780 | Hollis ME | 5,003 | $96K | 5.7% | 1.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,457 | Denton MD | 5,075 | $67K | 12.8% | 12.7% | 12% | C− |
| 3,458 | Unicoi TN | 3,861 | $42K | 21.3% | 4.8% | 5% | C− |
| 3,459 | Dexter ME | 3,874 | $52K | 23.1% | 2.1% | 17% | C− |
| 3,460 | Knox IN | 3,601 | $49K | 28.7% | 3.2% | 23% | C− |
| 3,461 | Chipley FL | 3,804 | $46K | 12.7% | 3.9% | 22% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Dexter, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Work in the towns next to Dexter
The biggest share goes to Corinna (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dexter workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dexter | – | C− | B− | 23 min | $51,845 |
| Corinna | 2% | D | D | 32 min | $56,547 |
| Garland | under 2% | D− | D | 26 min | $51,094 |
| Ripley | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Sangerville | under 2% | D | C+ | 20 min | $50,313 |
Same-state neighbors only. Ripley: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dexter’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 Dexter: questions
What is the median household income in Dexter?
$51,845 (±$17,617) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dexter?
23.1%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dexter?
23 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dexter work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bangor (10%, 28 mi), Dover-Foxcroft (7%, 10 mi), Guilford (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dexter walkable?
Dexter is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dexter without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dexter, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dexter
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.