With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Etna works elsewhere
There are 200 jobs in Etna; 557 of its residents have a job. Etna grades C− for jobs and income and C for walkability. 6% of workers work from home, next to 16% for Maine as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Etna
The four measures behind Etna’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Etna is better than 20% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Etna’s grade up ($72,379, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down.
Unemployment (5.7%) is left out: Etna’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Etna could be anywhere from D to B.
31% of working residents work in Bangor
Where Etna clocks in
31% of workers
5% 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.
How a workday changes Etna
On a workday 527 residents head out to work, 30 work right here, and 170 people come in from elsewhere.
About 890 people are in Etna 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.
Etna works in goods: 66% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Etna, 2013 → 2023: 142 → 200. 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 Etna’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Etna takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Etna workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 559 commuters (the 6% 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.
How far Etna goes to work
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.
The commute in Etna is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Etna is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 4.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 592 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). 2.0% of Etna households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Etna’s commuters take a bus or train.
Etna places 3,325th of 4,866 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 378 | Ogunquit ME | 1,606 | $114K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 406 | Pownal ME | 1,645 | $104K | 5.5% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 782 | Edgecomb ME | 1,214 | $109K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,323 | Buffalo WV | 1,185 | $65K | 19.9% | 8.1% | 1% | C− |
| 3,324 | Pigeon Grove Township IL | 1,089 | $69K | 11.4% | 0.5% | 13% | C− |
| 3,325 | Etna ME | 1,245 | $72K | 15.5% | 5.7% | 5% | C− |
| 3,326 | Carrollton NY | 1,174 | $61K | 11.6% | 6.4% | <1% | C− |
| 3,327 | Strongs Prairie WI | 1,224 | $66K | 10.6% | 4.7% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | 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 Etna, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Next door to Etna
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Etna’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 Etna: questions
What is the median household income in Etna?
$72,379 (±$16,252) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Etna?
15.5%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Etna?
28 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Etna work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bangor (31%, 17 mi), Newport (5%, 8 mi), Brewer (4%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Etna walkable?
Etna is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Etna 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 Etna, from the people who make the trip.
More of Etna
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.