Art Gallery · Photo: Patrick Higgins · CC BY-SA 3.0Gorham’s household incomes are higher than in 85% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Gorham itself; outside it, Portland draws the most (26%, 15 miles). Poverty touches 3.7% of residents, against 10.7% across Maine. The two grades for Gorham are A for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Gorham
Inside Gorham’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Gorham is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #8 of 143 in Maine. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gorham could be anywhere from A− to A+.
About 27 minutes to work from Gorham
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gorham workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,893 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.
How many people are in Gorham by day
On a workday 7,764 residents head out to work, 1,180 work right here, and 4,720 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Gorham on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.66 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 Gorham goes to work
Where Gorham clocks in
26% of workers
11% of workers
10% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 28% of the jobs in Gorham
5,900 jobs are based in Gorham.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gorham, 2013 → 2023: 4,796 → 5,900. 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 Gorham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Gorham’s workers travel
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.
Gorham is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gorham is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #26 of 143 in Maine. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 6.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 9,748 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 20% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 64% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.1% of Gorham households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Gorham’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Gorham is 339th of 2,023 U.S. towns of 13,000 to 26,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 208 | Scarborough ME | 24,547 | $134K | 4.4% | 2.2% | 19% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 251 | Windham ME | 19,912 | $108K | 3.4% | 1.5% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 337 | Westchase FL | 24,885 | $124K | 5.3% | 3.6% | 4% | A |
| 338 | Center Township IN | 15,848 | $97K | 3.8% | 2.4% | 16% | A |
| 339 | Gorham ME | 19,239 | $112K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 13% | A |
| 340 | Malta NY | 17,516 | $110K | 7.0% | 1.0% | 8% | A |
| 341 | North Strabane Township PA | 17,433 | $103K | 4.1% | 2.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 556 | Saco ME | 21,159 | $92K | 6.4% | 2.1% | 14% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,023 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Gorham, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Bordering towns draw 20% of Gorham’s workers
The biggest share goes to Westbrook (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gorham workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gorham | – | A | A− | 27 min | $112,312 |
| Windham | 3% | A | B | 26 min | $107,934 |
| South Windham | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| North Windham | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Buxton | under 2% | A | C | 34 min | $100,144 |
| Standish | under 2% | A− | B− | 29 min | $104,593 |
| Scarborough | 6% | A | B | 19 min | $133,558 |
| Westbrook | 11% | A− | A− | 19 min | $85,038 |
Same-state neighbors only. South Windham and North Windham: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Gorham’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 Gorham: questions
What is the median household income in Gorham?
$112,312 (±$6,322) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gorham?
3.7%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gorham?
27 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gorham work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (26%, 15 mi), Westbrook (11%, 6 mi), South Portland (10%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gorham walkable?
Gorham is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gorham without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gorham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gorham
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.