Orrington has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
351 jobs are based in Orrington, against 1,973 working residents. Jobs and income earn Orrington A−; getting around on foot earns it C−. Only 4% stay in Orrington for work; outside it, Bangor is the main destination (41%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Orrington
41% of Orrington works in Bangor
813 working residents, 41%, have their main job in Bangor, 9.8 miles away. That’s 10 times as many as work in Orrington itself. The commute map ↓
Orrington is a place people come home to
There are 351 jobs based in Orrington, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Orrington has about 2,300 people in it, 41% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Most Orrington residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. 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.
Where Orrington’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Orrington is better than 77% of U.S. towns, #21 of 143 in Maine. Unemployment holds Orrington’s grade up (1.7%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 42% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Orrington could be anywhere from B− to A.
Where the trip to work from Orrington ends
Where Orrington clocks in
41% of workers
14% 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.
Who leaves Orrington for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,886 residents head out to work, 87 work right here, and 264 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Orrington on a workday afternoon, 41% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Half of Orrington commutes less than 7 miles
About 16% 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.
The kinds of work in Orrington
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orrington, 2013 → 2023: 269 → 351. 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 Orrington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Orrington: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orrington workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,909 commuters (the 11% 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.
In Orrington, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orrington is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns, #111 of 143 in Maine. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 4.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,155 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). 0.5% of Orrington households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Orrington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Orrington is 979th among 4,364 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 351 | North Yarmouth ME | 4,424 | $129K | 4.8% | 1.9% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 764 | Arundel ME | 4,596 | $102K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 802 | Hollis ME | 5,003 | $96K | 5.7% | 1.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 977 | Lake Lakengren OH | 3,445 | $87K | 6.5% | 1.1% | 2% | A− |
| 978 | Hartville OH | 3,456 | $70K | 7.9% | 0.6% | 6% | A− |
| 979 | Orrington ME | 3,912 | $95K | 6.6% | 1.7% | 4% | A− |
| 980 | Pepperdine University CA | 3,087 | $199K | 0.0% | 11.2% | 12% | A− |
| 981 | Chamberlayne VA | 4,692 | $98K | 6.8% | 4.8% | <1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,364 | 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 Orrington, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Bordering towns draw 17% of Orrington’s workers
The biggest share goes to Brewer (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Orrington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orrington | – | A− | C− | 21 min | $94,556 |
| Hampden | 3% | A− | C− | 23 min | $111,959 |
| Bucksport | under 2% | C | D | 28 min | $64,720 |
| Winterport | under 2% | B+ | C− | 32 min | $98,333 |
| Holden | under 2% | B | D | 25 min | $92,200 |
| Brewer | 14% | B | B− | 17 min | $66,613 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Orrington’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 Orrington: questions
What is the median household income in Orrington?
$94,556 (±$10,060) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orrington?
6.6%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orrington?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orrington work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bangor (41%, 10 mi), Brewer (14%, 7 mi), Augusta (4%, 54 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Orrington walkable?
Orrington is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orrington without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orrington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orrington
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.