Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Jay commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
About one in ten stay in Jay for work; outside it, Farmington is the main destination (8%, 12 miles). Employers in Jay report 855 jobs for 2,169 working residents. 5% of workers work from home, where Maine as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Jay, in a few figures
Fewer jobs are based in Jay than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Jay fell from 1,828 in 2013 to 855 in 2023, −53%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
The quickest commute around
Jay’s 21-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 25 to 36 minutes. Next door ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Jay earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jay is better than 42% of U.S. towns, #95 of 143 in Maine. Unemployment holds Jay’s grade up (2.8%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 12% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jay could be anywhere from D to B+.
A place that makes things: 29% of Jay’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jay, 2013 → 2023: 1,828 → 855. 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 Jay’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Jay by day and by night
On a workday 1,953 residents head out to work, 216 work right here, and 639 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Jay on a workday afternoon, 28% 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 Jay’s residents
Where Jay clocks in
8% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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 long Jay spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jay workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,333 commuters (the 5% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Jay
About 27% 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.
For most of Jay, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jay is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #90 of 143 in Maine. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.9% 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 2,450 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). 1.9% of Jay households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jay’s commuters take a bus or train.
Jay places 2,443rd of 4,009 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,300
| # | 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 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 351 | North Yarmouth ME | 4,424 | $129K | 4.8% | 1.9% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 748 | Arundel ME | 4,596 | $102K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 779 | Hollis ME | 5,003 | $96K | 5.7% | 1.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,441 | Mauston WI | 4,133 | $64K | 18.5% | 1.2% | 30% | C+ |
| 2,442 | Somerset Township IL | 3,940 | $71K | 4.3% | 7.8% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,443 | Jay ME | 4,639 | $70K | 9.8% | 2.8% | 10% | C+ |
| 2,444 | Wells Township MI | 4,821 | $72K | 10.1% | 3.5% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,445 | Carroll NY | 3,389 | $77K | 6.5% | 6.2% | 10% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,009 | 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 Jay, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
11% of Jay works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jay workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay | – | C+ | C | 21 min | $70,238 |
| Canton | under 3% | C− | C− | 35 min | $52,458 |
| Chesterville | under 3% | C− | C+ | 25 min | $61,635 |
| Wilton | 5% | D | C− | 28 min | $63,396 |
| Livermore Falls | 4% | D | C | 36 min | $45,843 |
| Livermore | 2% | C+ | C− | 27 min | $70,441 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Wilton. Darker towns draw more of Jay’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 Jay: questions
What is the median household income in Jay?
$70,238 (±$19,162) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jay?
9.8%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jay?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jay work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Farmington (8%, 12 mi), Lewiston (6%, 30 mi), Augusta (6%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jay walkable?
Jay is more walkable than 29% 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 Jay 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 Jay, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jay
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.