Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Pittsfield’s household incomes are lower than in 78% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income C−: better than 24% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #121 of 143 in Maine.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns · #30 of 143 in Maine.
Working residents average 24 minutes each way (Maine 25, U.S. 26). About one in five work in Pittsfield; the top destination outside it is Bangor (9%, 32 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Pittsfield
Pittsfield trades workers with the towns around it
Pittsfield has about as many jobs (2,083) as working residents (1,800), but they are mostly different people: 1,400 residents leave for work each day while 1,683 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Pittsfield are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Pittsfield’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Pittsfield is Bangor, 32 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (170) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Pittsfield makes and builds things
42% of the jobs based in Pittsfield are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Pittsfield residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 21%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Pittsfield than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Pittsfield fell from 2,965 in 2013 to 2,083 in 2023, −30%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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’s behind Pittsfield’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pittsfield is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #121 of 143 in Maine. Unemployment holds Pittsfield’s grade up (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($57,381, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pittsfield could be anywhere from D to B−.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,400 residents head out to work, 400 work right here, and 1,683 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 (1.16 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.
Half of Pittsfield commutes less than 24 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 21% 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.
Pittsfield makes things: 42% of its jobs are in goods
2,083 jobs are based in Pittsfield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Pittsfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pittsfield, 2013 → 2023: 2,965 → 2,083. 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.
9% of working residents work in Bangor
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Pittsfield clocks in
9% of workers
7% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 24 minutes each way, about the ME average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pittsfield workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,676 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Maine: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Most trips from Pittsfield start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pittsfield is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #30 of 143 in Maine. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 6.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,895 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). 8.3% of Pittsfield households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Pittsfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Pittsfield is 3,141st of 4,084 U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,300 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Pittsfield, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 336 | North Yarmouth ME | 4,424 | $129K | 4.8% | 1.9% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 729 | Arundel ME | 4,596 | $102K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 764 | Hollis ME | 5,003 | $96K | 5.7% | 1.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,139 | Valdese NC | 4,712 | $51K | 12.8% | 5.8% | 9% | C− |
| 3,140 | Minersville PA | 4,423 | $53K | 27.0% | 3.9% | 6% | C− |
| 3,141 | Pittsfield ME | 3,935 | $57K | 15.5% | 4.0% | 22% | C− |
| 3,142 | Eaton NY | 4,391 | $53K | 10.1% | 4.2% | 12% | C− |
| 3,143 | Salem Township PA | 4,174 | $62K | 11.7% | 6.4% | 13% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,084 | 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.
Pittsfield and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Pittsfield’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pittsfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsfield | – | C− | B+ | 24 min | $57,381 |
| Burnham | under 2% | D | C | 22 min | $59,261 |
| Detroit | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Hartland | under 2% | D | C− | 30 min | $46,141 |
| Canaan | under 2% | C | C | 34 min | $57,781 |
| Clinton | under 2% | B | D | 30 min | $71,458 |
| Palmyra | under 2% | C | C+ | 21 min | $60,543 |
Same-state neighbors only. Detroit: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Pittsfield: questions
What is the median household income in Pittsfield?
$57,381 (±$11,541) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pittsfield?
15.5%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pittsfield?
24 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pittsfield work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bangor (9%, 32 mi), Augusta (7%, 34 mi), Waterville (5%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pittsfield walkable?
Pittsfield is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pittsfield without a car?
1% 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 Pittsfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pittsfield
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.