Photo: RootsLilla · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Gray commutes out: there are 0.6 jobs for every working resident
About one in ten work in Gray; the top destination outside it is Portland (23%, 21 miles). 2,382 jobs are based in Gray, and 4,187 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Gray are A− for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How Gray earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Gray is better than 81% of U.S. towns, #13 of 143 in Maine. The poverty rate is its strongest input (3.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 58% 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, Gray could be anywhere from B to A.
Gray on a workday afternoon
On a workday 3,795 residents head out to work, 392 work right here, and 1,990 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,900 people are in Gray on a workday afternoon, 21% 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.
The towns that employ Gray’s residents
Where Gray clocks in
23% 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 kinds of work in Gray
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gray, 2013 → 2023: 1,996 → 2,382. 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 Gray’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Gray takes about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gray workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,098 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Gray
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.
Most of Gray commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gray is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns, #119 of 143 in Maine. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.0% across Maine.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,672 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.0% of Gray households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Gray’s commuters take a bus or train.
Gray is 758th of 2,893 U.S. towns of 6,100 to 11,700 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Cumberland ME | 8,876 | $174K | 3.1% | 0.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 314 | Cape Elizabeth ME | 9,827 | $146K | 5.2% | 2.5% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 370 | Buxton ME | 8,681 | $100K | 2.3% | 1.4% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 756 | Waller WA | 7,683 | $101K | 7.6% | 3.6% | 2% | A− |
| 757 | Adel IA | 7,098 | $95K | 7.2% | 2.7% | 12% | A− |
| 758 | Gray ME | 8,676 | $95K | 3.5% | 3.4% | 9% | A− |
| 759 | Mendon NY | 9,072 | $132K | 5.7% | 4.9% | 13% | A− |
| 760 | Hickam Housing HI | 9,425 | $122K | 1.9% | 8.2% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,893 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Gray, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Gray and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Windham (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gray workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gray | – | A− | C− | 29 min | $95,236 |
| Windham | 5% | A | B | 26 min | $107,934 |
| New Gloucester | under 3% | B+ | B | 27 min | $108,797 |
| Raymond | under 3% | B+ | B | 37 min | $88,194 |
| North Yarmouth | under 3% | A | C+ | 27 min | $129,267 |
| Cumberland | under 3% | A+ | C+ | 24 min | $173,894 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Gray’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 Gray: questions
What is the median household income in Gray?
$95,236 (±$8,373) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gray?
3.5%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gray?
29 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gray work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (23%, 21 mi), Westbrook (7%, 14 mi), South Portland (7%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gray walkable?
Gray is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gray without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gray, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gray
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.