Photo: en:User:Binkley27 · Public domainWith 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Peru works elsewhere
For jobs and income Peru is better than 24% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (C). Peru has 170 jobs, and 639 of its residents work somewhere. Only 3% work in Peru; the top destination outside it is Lewiston (12%, 29 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Peru and work: the main findings
Peru’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Peru is Lewiston, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (74) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Peru is a place people come home to
There are 170 jobs based in Peru, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Peru has about 1,000 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 639 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Peru: the grade in detail
The poverty rate holds Peru’s grade up (9.2%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 5% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (1.1%) is left out: Peru’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Peru could be anywhere from D to B−.
The distance from Peru to work
About 25% 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.
Who commutes out of Peru, and who commutes in
On a workday 619 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 150 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Peru on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
Commuting out of Peru: the destinations
Where Peru clocks in
12% of workers
9% 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.
Peru works in goods: 39% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Peru, 2013 → 2023: 203 → 170. 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 Peru’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Peru’s commute takes about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Peru workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 555 commuters (the 9% 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.
Most of Peru commutes by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 4.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 611 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). 2.9% of Peru households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Peru’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Peru ranks: 3,502nd of 5,397 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 463 | Ogunquit ME | 1,606 | $114K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 501 | Pownal ME | 1,645 | $104K | 5.5% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 547 | Newcastle ME | 1,915 | $90K | 3.5% | 0.0% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,500 | Pleasant Township IN | 1,375 | $105K | 22.3% | 0.0% | 1% | C− |
| 3,501 | Pomona Township KS | 1,127 | $62K | 11.5% | 4.7% | 6% | C− |
| 3,502 | Peru ME | 1,501 | $67K | 9.2% | 1.1% | 3% | C− |
| 3,503 | Montgomery Township PA | 1,410 | $66K | 10.4% | 5.5% | 5% | C− |
| 3,504 | Conover WI | 1,373 | $62K | 7.3% | 6.4% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,397 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Peru, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
14% of Peru works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Rumford (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Peru workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peru | – | C− | C | 29 min | $66,827 |
| Dixfield | 4% | C | D | 25 min | $70,613 |
| Canton | under 3% | C− | C− | 35 min | $52,458 |
| Mexico | 3% | C− | A− | 24 min | $55,727 |
| Sumner | under 3% | C | C+ | 42 min | $57,750 |
| Hartford | under 3% | C+ | D− | 41 min | $87,115 |
| Rumford | 7% | D | B+ | 21 min | $38,403 |
| Woodstock | under 3% | C− | D | 29 min | $63,015 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Peru’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 Peru: questions
What is the median household income in Peru?
$66,827 (±$18,621) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Peru?
9.2%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Peru?
29 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Peru work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lewiston (12%, 29 mi), Auburn (9%, 28 mi), Rumford (7%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Peru walkable?
Peru is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Peru without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Peru, from the people who make the trip.
More of Peru
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.