Mexico has lower household incomes than 80% of U.S. towns
6% of workers work from home, next to 16% for Maine as a whole. 19.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.7% across Maine. The two grades for Mexico are C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Mexico, in brief
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Mexico
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mexico is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #130 of 143 in Maine. Unemployment holds Mexico’s grade up (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mexico could be anywhere from D− to C+.
19% of working residents work in Rumford
Where Mexico clocks in
19% of workers
8% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Mexico
On a workday 957 residents head out to work, 106 work right here, and 717 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 (0.77 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.
Inside Mexico’s 823 jobs
823 jobs are based in Mexico.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mexico, 2013 → 2023: 766 → 823. 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 Mexico’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Mexico: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mexico workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,065 commuters (the 6% 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.
Mexico’s commute, mile by mile
About 26% 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.
Mexico is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.6% 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 1,128 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). 13.2% of Mexico households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mexico’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,131 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,800, Mexico comes 4,136th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 314 | Dayton ME | 2,182 | $114K | 3.7% | 0.2% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 796 | Newcastle ME | 1,915 | $90K | 3.5% | 0.0% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 800 | West Bath ME | 1,970 | $103K | 3.2% | 3.5% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,134 | Putman Township IL | 1,907 | $66K | 13.5% | 3.6% | 8% | C− |
| 4,135 | Norridgewock ME | 3,304 | $62K | 20.9% | 4.9% | 8% | C− |
| 4,136 | Mexico ME | 2,779 | $56K | 19.7% | 3.4% | 10% | C− |
| 4,137 | Calabash NC | 3,069 | $65K | 17.6% | 4.9% | 11% | C− |
| 4,138 | Hale Center TX | 1,979 | $57K | 18.0% | 8.9% | 5% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,131 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Mexico, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Work next door: 22% of Mexico’s workers
The biggest share goes to Rumford (19%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mexico workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | – | C− | A− | 24 min | $55,727 |
| Dixfield | 3% | C | D | 25 min | $70,613 |
| Rumford | 19% | D | B+ | 21 min | $38,403 |
| Peru | under 3% | C− | C | 29 min | $66,827 |
| Roxbury | under 3% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Carthage | under 3% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Roxbury and Carthage: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mexico’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 Mexico: questions
What is the median household income in Mexico?
$55,727 (±$9,291) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mexico?
19.7%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mexico?
24 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mexico work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rumford (19%, 6 mi), Lewiston (8%, 36 mi), Portland (4%, 65 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mexico walkable?
Mexico is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mexico without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mexico, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mexico
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.