Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Fort Kent has lower unemployment (2.0%) than 85% of U.S. towns
More than half stay in Fort Kent for work; outside it, Madawaska is the main destination (7%, 15 miles). Jobs and income earn Fort Kent C; getting around on foot earns it B+. Measured by household income, Fort Kent is behind 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Fort Kent
Most jobs in Fort Kent go to people who live here
Of the 1,876 jobs based in Fort Kent, 49% are held by Fort Kent residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Fort Kent are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 25 across Maine. That’s about 54 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Fort Kent’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fort Kent is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #108 of 143 in Maine. Unemployment holds Fort Kent’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fort Kent could be anywhere from D to B−.
Who works in Fort Kent, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 694 residents head out to work, 928 work right here, and 948 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 (1.16 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Maine
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fort Kent workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,952 commuters (the 9% 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.
Out of Fort Kent to work: where people go
Where Fort Kent clocks in
4% of workers
3% 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.
What the 1,876 jobs in Fort Kent are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fort Kent, 2014 → 2024: 2,097 → 1,876. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fort Kent’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Fort Kent’s workers travel
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Fort Kent commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fort Kent is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #37 of 143 in Maine. Both inputs place Fort Kent near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,139 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). 6.2% of Fort Kent households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Fort Kent’s commuters take a bus or train.
Fort Kent next to U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,600: 2,808th of 4,112 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 340 | North Yarmouth ME | 4,424 | $129K | 4.8% | 1.9% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 741 | Arundel ME | 4,596 | $102K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 776 | Hollis ME | 5,003 | $96K | 5.7% | 1.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,806 | Lancaster NH | 3,218 | $69K | 16.7% | 1.9% | 26% | C |
| 2,807 | Westway TX | 3,484 | $45K | 22.9% | 3.3% | 2% | C |
| 2,808 | Fort Kent ME | 4,151 | $56K | 11.2% | 2.0% | 57% | C |
| 2,809 | Lakeview GA | 4,723 | $61K | 13.1% | 4.3% | 1% | C |
| 2,810 | Desloge MO | 4,819 | $61K | 15.7% | 3.5% | 4% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,112 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Fort Kent, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Fort Kent and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Frenchville (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fort Kent workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Kent | – | C | B+ | 18 min | $56,270 |
| Frenchville | 2% | D− | C | 16 min | $55,461 |
| New Canada | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Wallagrass | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. New Canada and Wallagrass: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fort Kent’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 2024, 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 Fort Kent: questions
What is the median household income in Fort Kent?
$56,270 (±$7,355) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fort Kent?
11.2%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fort Kent?
18 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fort Kent work?
57% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madawaska (7%, 15 mi), Caribou (4%, 39 mi), Presque Isle (3%, 45 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Fort Kent walkable?
Fort Kent is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fort Kent without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fort Kent, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fort Kent
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.