Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Lewiston has lower household incomes than 81% of U.S. towns
20.0% of residents live below the poverty line, where Maine as a whole has 10.7%. The two grades for Lewiston are C for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in three work in Lewiston; the top destination outside it is Auburn (17%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Lewiston: the figures worth knowing
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Lewiston
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lewiston is better than 29% of U.S. towns, #114 of 143 in Maine. Job access by car holds Lewiston’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lewiston could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Where the trip to work from Lewiston ends
Where Lewiston clocks in
17% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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 many people are in Lewiston by day
On a workday 10,497 residents head out to work, 5,471 work right here, and 17,302 people come in from elsewhere.
About 46,000 people are in Lewiston on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 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.
What work there is in Lewiston: 22,773 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lewiston, 2013 → 2023: 23,928 → 22,773. 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 Lewiston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Lewiston, about 21 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lewiston workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,745 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.
Miles to work from Lewiston
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: Lewiston
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lewiston is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #9 of 143 in Maine. Both inputs place Lewiston near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 17,952 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). 17.2% of Lewiston households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lewiston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Lewiston is 962nd among 1,113 U.S. towns of 27,000 to 52,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 351 | South Portland ME | 27,007 | $87K | 6.9% | 2.6% | 21% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 925 | Bangor ME | 32,518 | $60K | 17.9% | 4.1% | 53% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 960 | Hilo HI | 50,404 | $82K | 14.5% | 6.9% | 60% | C |
| 961 | Burton MI | 29,313 | $60K | 16.1% | 7.1% | 8% | C |
| 962 | Lewiston ME | 38,866 | $55K | 20.0% | 4.8% | 34% | C |
| 963 | Quincy IL | 38,918 | $56K | 16.7% | 4.7% | 53% | C |
| 964 | Dodge City KS | 27,653 | $69K | 14.6% | 5.6% | 51% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,113 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Lewiston, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
The towns next door employ 19% of Lewiston
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lewiston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewiston | – | C | A | 21 min | $55,393 |
| Auburn | 17% | C | B+ | 22 min | $66,647 |
| Durham | under 2% | B | D | 28 min | $99,181 |
| Sabattus | under 2% | B | C− | 30 min | $59,387 |
| Lisbon | 2% | A− | C+ | 29 min | $77,819 |
| Greene | under 2% | B+ | D | 26 min | $98,093 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Auburn. Darker towns draw more of Lewiston’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 Lewiston: questions
What is the median household income in Lewiston?
$55,393 (±$4,316) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lewiston?
20.0%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lewiston?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lewiston work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Auburn (17%, 4 mi), Portland (7%, 32 mi), Augusta (3%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lewiston walkable?
Lewiston is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lewiston without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lewiston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lewiston
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.