Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Kennebunk are higher than in 82% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 7.3% of residents (Maine 10.7%). For jobs and income Kennebunk is better than 70% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (B+). At home: 32% of workers have no commute at all (Maine 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Kennebunk apart on work
A lot of Kennebunk works from home
33% of Kennebunk workers work from home, against 16% across Maine. Time on the road ↓
Kennebunk trades workers with the towns around it
Kennebunk has about as many jobs (5,416) as working residents (4,979), but they are mostly different people: 3,945 residents leave for work each day while 4,382 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Kennebunk are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Kennebunk’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Kennebunk is Portland, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (616) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Kennebunk
Household income holds Kennebunk’s grade up ($107,804, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kennebunk could be anywhere from B− to A.
How long Kennebunk spends getting to work: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kennebunk workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,833 commuters (the 33% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Kennebunk
On a workday 3,945 residents head out to work, 1,034 work right here, and 4,382 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 (1.09 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Kennebunk
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.
12% of working residents work in Portland
Where Kennebunk clocks in
12% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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 work there is in Kennebunk: 5,416 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kennebunk, 2013 → 2023: 4,482 → 5,416. 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 Kennebunk’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Kennebunk, most people drive to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,679 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). 4.8% of Kennebunk households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Kennebunk’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Kennebunk ranks: 887th of 2,151 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 16,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 150 | Falmouth ME | 12,982 | $151K | 2.3% | 2.7% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 259 | Cape Elizabeth ME | 9,827 | $146K | 5.2% | 2.5% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 592 | York ME | 14,293 | $121K | 5.8% | 2.7% | 31% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 885 | Woodbury NY | 11,571 | $121K | 4.6% | 7.7% | 10% | B+ |
| 886 | Enumclaw WA | 13,172 | $121K | 7.5% | 3.7% | 17% | B+ |
| 887 | Kennebunk ME | 12,152 | $108K | 7.3% | 4.4% | 21% | B+ |
| 888 | Warren RI | 11,070 | $91K | 9.7% | 4.2% | 12% | B+ |
| 889 | Union Township OH | 9,403 | $95K | 9.5% | 3.9% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,151 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Kennebunk, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Work in the towns next to Kennebunk
The biggest share goes to Wells (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kennebunk workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kennebunk | – | B+ | B+ | 27 min | $107,804 |
| Arundel | under 3% | A− | C | 23 min | $101,597 |
| Wells | 4% | B− | B− | 28 min | $88,024 |
| Kennebunkport | 3% | A− | B− | 34 min | $102,747 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kennebunk’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 Kennebunk: questions
What is the median household income in Kennebunk?
$107,804 (±$7,557) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kennebunk?
7.3%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kennebunk?
27 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 32% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kennebunk work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (12%, 26 mi), Biddeford (7%, 10 mi), South Portland (5%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kennebunk walkable?
Kennebunk is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kennebunk without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kennebunk, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kennebunk
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.