Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0At 1.5%, unemployment in Paris is lower than in 90% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Paris itself; outside it, Auburn draws the most (9%, 16 miles). The two grades for Paris are B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Commuters spend 22 minutes getting to work on average; Maine averages 25, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Paris and work: the main findings
Paris trades workers with the towns around it
Paris has about as many jobs (2,508) as working residents (2,383), but they are mostly different people: 1,989 residents leave for work each day while 2,114 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in Paris are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
The quickest commute around
Paris’ 22-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 26 to 34 minutes. Next door ↓
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.
Inside Paris’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Paris is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #79 of 143 in Maine. Unemployment holds Paris’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 26% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Paris could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Paris by day and by night
On a workday 1,989 residents head out to work, 394 work right here, and 2,114 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 (1.05 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.
Where people from Paris work
Where Paris clocks in
9% of workers
8% of workers
8% 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.
What the 2,508 jobs in Paris are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Paris, 2013 → 2023: 2,002 → 2,508. 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 Paris’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Paris
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Paris workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,199 commuters (the 19% 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.
Half of Paris commutes less than 18 miles
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 commute in Paris is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Paris is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #63 of 143 in Maine. Both inputs place Paris 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 2,729 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). 12.2% of Paris households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Paris’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,541 U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,300, Paris comes 1,889th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 344 | North Yarmouth ME | 4,424 | $129K | 4.8% | 1.9% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 731 | Arundel ME | 4,596 | $102K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 758 | Hollis ME | 5,003 | $96K | 5.7% | 1.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,887 | Minot AFB ND | 4,878 | $63K | 1.2% | 6.1% | 9% | B− |
| 1,888 | Mulvane KS | 7,030 | $74K | 8.5% | 6.0% | 9% | B− |
| 1,889 | Paris ME | 5,409 | $75K | 12.5% | 1.5% | 17% | B− |
| 1,890 | Beekmantown NY | 5,396 | $87K | 12.8% | 2.4% | 10% | B− |
| 1,891 | Sterling AK | 6,323 | $102K | 4.6% | 5.0% | — | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,541 | 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 Paris, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Next door is work for 16% of Paris
The biggest share goes to Norway (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Paris workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris | – | B− | B− | 22 min | $75,137 |
| Norway | 8% | C− | C | 34 min | $54,342 |
| Hebron | under 2% | B− | B | 31 min | $92,550 |
| West Paris | under 2% | D | C | 32 min | $56,324 |
| Oxford | 8% | D | B+ | 26 min | $58,571 |
| Buckfield | under 2% | B− | D− | 31 min | $77,917 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Paris’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 Paris: questions
What is the median household income in Paris?
$75,137 (±$20,402) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Paris?
12.5%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Paris?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Paris work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Auburn (9%, 16 mi), Norway (8%, 6 mi), Oxford (8%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Paris walkable?
Paris is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Paris without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Paris, from the people who make the trip.
More of Paris
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.