Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Rockland has 1.9 jobs for every working resident: 4,254 people commute in to work
Jobs & income C−: better than 23% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #123 of 143 in Maine.
Walkability A: more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns · #4 of 143 in Maine.
Household incomes here are lower than in 79% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 12 minutes each way (Maine 25, U.S. 26). About one in three work in Rockland; the top destination outside it is Rockport (12%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Rockland
Commutes from Rockland are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 25 across Maine. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical Maine worker. Time on the road ↓
Rockland is where the jobs are
Rockland has 5,093 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Most Rockland residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. 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.
What’s behind Rockland’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rockland is better than 23% of U.S. towns, #123 of 143 in Maine. The poverty rate holds Rockland’s grade up (10.4%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (6.6%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rockland could be anywhere from D to B−.
About 12 minutes each way, quicker than most of Maine
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rockland workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,750 commuters (the 22% who work from home are left out). Across Maine: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Rockland fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,788 residents head out to work, 839 work right here, and 4,254 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,600 people are in Rockland on a workday afternoon, 35% more than live here.
1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 Rockland commutes less than 6 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 18% 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.
Where Rockland’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Rockland clocks in
12% of workers
6% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Rockland makes things: 28% of its jobs are in goods
5,093 jobs are based in Rockland. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rockland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rockland, 2013 → 2023: 6,349 → 5,093. 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.
Rockland is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rockland is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #4 of 143 in Maine. Both inputs place Rockland 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 3,528 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). 11.8% of Rockland households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rockland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Rockland is 2,573rd of 3,164 U.S. towns of 5,000 to 9,600 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Rockland, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Cumberland ME | 8,876 | $174K | 3.1% | 0.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 362 | Buxton ME | 8,681 | $100K | 2.3% | 1.4% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 753 | Gray ME | 8,676 | $95K | 3.5% | 3.4% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,571 | Harriman TN | 6,192 | $45K | 21.2% | 4.3% | 8% | C− |
| 2,572 | Green Township OH | 5,337 | $60K | 20.7% | 3.0% | 19% | C− |
| 2,573 | Rockland ME | 7,142 | $57K | 10.4% | 6.6% | 32% | C− |
| 2,574 | Greenville PA | 5,406 | $53K | 16.5% | 4.7% | 12% | C− |
| 2,575 | Plymouth NH | 6,721 | $77K | 18.6% | 5.6% | 28% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,164 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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.
20% of Rockland works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Rockport (12%). Darker towns draw more of Rockland’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rockland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockland | – | C− | A | 12 min | $56,533 |
| Thomaston | 6% | C+ | C | 14 min | $56,435 |
| Rockport | 12% | B− | B | 11 min | $86,979 |
| Owls Head | under 2% | B | B+ | 16 min | $87,325 |
| South Thomaston | under 2% | B | C | 16 min | $86,838 |
| Warren | 2% | B+ | C+ | 23 min | $74,616 |
| North Haven | under 2% | — | — | 9 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. North Haven: 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 Rockland: questions
What is the median household income in Rockland?
$56,533 (±$6,121) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rockland?
10.4%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rockland?
12 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rockland work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockport (12%, 4 mi), Thomaston (6%, 2 mi), Camden (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rockland walkable?
Rockland is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rockland 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 Rockland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rockland
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.