Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Machias has lower household incomes than 98% of U.S. towns
25.6% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.7% across Maine. The two grades for Machias are D− for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in three work in Machias; the top destination outside it is Bangor (5%, 67 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Machias apart
Machias is where the jobs are
Machias has 1,934 jobs, 2.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,300 people are in town, 59% more than the 2,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Machias are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 25 across Maine. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Maine worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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; with 717 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Machias’ Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Machias is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Machias’ grade.
Unemployment (17.4%) is left out: Machias’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Machias stays D−.
Who leaves Machias for work, and who comes in
On a workday 452 residents head out to work, 265 work right here, and 1,669 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Machias on a workday afternoon, 59% more than live here.
2.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 trip to work from Machias: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Machias workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 551 commuters (the 13% 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.
Machias’ commute, mile by mile
About 31% 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.
Where the people who work in Machias live
Where Machias clocks in
5% of workers
4% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Machias
1,934 jobs are based in Machias.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Machias, 2013 → 2023: 1,783 → 1,934. 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 Machias’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Machias is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Machias is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 8.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 631 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). 11.0% of Machias households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Machias’ commuters take a bus or train.
Machias next to U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 268 | Dayton ME | 2,182 | $114K | 3.7% | 0.2% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 551 | Ogunquit ME | 1,606 | $114K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 600 | Pownal ME | 1,645 | $104K | 5.5% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,080 | Charlotte TX | 1,653 | $29K | 36.4% | 5.8% | 8% | D− |
| 5,081 | Spencer WV | 1,895 | $38K | 33.5% | 16.5% | 24% | D− |
| 5,082 | Machias ME | 2,078 | $34K | 25.6% | 17.4% | 37% | D− |
| 5,083 | Lake Mack-Forest Hills FL | 2,200 | — | 20.4% | 32.5% | 0% | D− |
| 5,084 | Thoreau NM | 1,973 | $45K | 27.5% | 10.8% | 6% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Machias, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Work in the towns next to Machias
The biggest share goes to Machiasport (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Machias workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machias | – | D− | A | 16 min | $34,375 |
| Machiasport | 4% | D | B | 21 min | $60,000 |
| Marshfield | 3% | — | — | 13 min | — |
| Whitneyville | 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Roque Bluffs | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Marshfield, Whitneyville and Roque Bluffs: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Machias’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 Machias: questions
What is the median household income in Machias?
$34,375 (±$15,670) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Machias?
25.6%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Machias?
16 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Machias work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bangor (5%, 67 mi), Machiasport (4%, 6 mi), East Machias (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Machias walkable?
Machias is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Machias without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Machias, from the people who make the trip.
More of Machias
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.