Photo: Greencan7 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Kittery earn more than those in 72% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Kittery are B for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 6.4% of residents, against 10.7% across Maine. About one in five stay in Kittery for work; outside it, Portsmouth is the main destination (16%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Kittery stands out on work
A lot of Kittery workers cross into New Hampshire
32% of Kittery workers work outside Maine, most of them in New Hampshire, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Kittery trades workers with the towns around it
Kittery has about as many jobs (3,934) as working residents (3,532), but they are mostly different people: 2,825 residents leave for work each day while 3,227 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Kittery are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Kittery works one town over
26% of working residents work in a town that borders Kittery: Portsmouth (16%), York (8%) and Eliot (2%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Kittery are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 25 across Maine. That’s about 38 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Kittery
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kittery is better than 65% of U.S. towns, #54 of 143 in Maine. Household income holds Kittery’s grade up ($93,728, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kittery could be anywhere from C+ to A.
The places Kittery commutes to
Where Kittery clocks in
16% of workers
4% 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 a workday changes Kittery
On a workday 2,825 residents head out to work, 707 work right here, and 3,227 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 (1.11 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.
Commuting from Kittery: about 20 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kittery workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,181 commuters (the 23% 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 kinds of work in Kittery
3,934 jobs are based in Kittery.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kittery, 2013 → 2023: 3,527 → 3,934. 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 Kittery’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Kittery, by distance
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Kittery
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kittery is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #15 of 143 in Maine. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 7.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,407 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). 12.1% of Kittery households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Kittery’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Kittery is 1,168th among 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | 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 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Cumberland ME | 8,876 | $174K | 3.1% | 0.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 165 | Falmouth ME | 12,982 | $151K | 2.3% | 2.7% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 299 | Cape Elizabeth ME | 9,827 | $146K | 5.2% | 2.5% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,166 | Commerce GA | 9,303 | $61K | 8.3% | 1.1% | 13% | B |
| 1,167 | Stookey Township IL | 8,795 | $82K | 10.0% | 4.7% | 2% | B |
| 1,168 | Kittery ME | 11,420 | $94K | 6.4% | 5.4% | 20% | B |
| 1,169 | Lincoln Township MI | 14,814 | $98K | 5.8% | 5.6% | 11% | B |
| 1,170 | Jackson Township PA | 9,301 | $89K | 4.5% | 7.2% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | 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 Kittery, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Next door is work for 26% of Kittery
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kittery workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kittery | – | B | A− | 20 min | $93,728 |
| York | 8% | A− | B | 24 min | $121,250 |
| Eliot | 2% | A− | B− | 23 min | $101,522 |
| South Eliot | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. South Eliot: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Portsmouth. Darker towns draw more of Kittery’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 Kittery: questions
What is the median household income in Kittery?
$93,728 (±$13,996) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kittery?
6.4%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kittery?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kittery work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portsmouth (16%, 10 mi), York (8%, 11 mi), Portland (4%, 48 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kittery walkable?
Kittery is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kittery without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kittery, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kittery
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.