Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainNorway has lower household incomes than 82% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 20.9% of residents, next to 10.7% for Maine as a whole. Jobs and income earn Norway C−; getting around on foot earns it C. About one in seven work in Norway; the top destination outside it is Paris (13%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Norway: the figures worth knowing
Norway trades workers with the towns around it
Norway has about as many jobs (2,031) as working residents (2,163), but they are mostly different people: 1,899 residents leave for work each day while 1,767 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Norway are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Norway workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 25 across Maine. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Norway
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Norway is better than 16% of U.S. towns, #131 of 143 in Maine. Unemployment holds Norway’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Norway could be anywhere from D− to B−.
Who commutes out of Norway, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,899 residents head out to work, 264 work right here, and 1,767 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 (0.94 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.
From Norway, about 34 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Norway workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,741 commuters (the 14% 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.
Where people from Norway work
Where Norway clocks in
13% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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 kinds of work in Norway
2,031 jobs are based in Norway.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Norway, 2013 → 2023: 1,718 → 2,031. 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 Norway’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Norway’s workers travel
About 15% 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.
Getting around Norway: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Norway is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns, #85 of 143 in Maine. Both inputs place Norway 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 2,030 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). 7.7% of Norway households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Norway’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,651 U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,200, Norway comes 3,173rd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 358 | North Yarmouth ME | 4,424 | $129K | 4.8% | 1.9% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 758 | Arundel ME | 4,596 | $102K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 785 | Hollis ME | 5,003 | $96K | 5.7% | 1.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,171 | Notre Dame IN | 6,890 | $20K | 49.2% | 2.6% | 7% | C− |
| 3,172 | Columbus TX | 3,821 | $49K | 31.5% | 3.2% | 23% | C− |
| 3,173 | Norway ME | 5,349 | $54K | 20.9% | 4.5% | 12% | C− |
| 3,174 | Lowville NY | 4,869 | $69K | 16.2% | 6.4% | 35% | C− |
| 3,175 | Northchase NC | 5,896 | $59K | 22.3% | 19.2% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,651 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Norway, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
20% of Norway works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Norway workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | – | C− | C | 34 min | $54,342 |
| Paris | 13% | B− | B− | 22 min | $75,137 |
| South Paris | under 2% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| Greenwood | under 2% | — | — | 37 min | — |
| Waterford | under 2% | D | C− | 34 min | $66,071 |
| Otisfield | under 2% | C+ | C− | 33 min | $84,271 |
| Harrison | under 2% | D | D | 31 min | $56,938 |
| Oxford | 7% | D | B+ | 26 min | $58,571 |
Same-state neighbors only. South Paris: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Greenwood: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Paris. Darker towns draw more of Norway’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 Norway: questions
What is the median household income in Norway?
$54,342 (±$17,172) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Norway?
20.9%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Norway?
34 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Norway work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Paris (13%, 6 mi), Portland (7%, 46 mi), Auburn (7%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Norway walkable?
Norway is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Norway without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Norway, from the people who make the trip.
More of Norway
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.