Photo: Benggriff · Public domainA job hub: Rockport has 2.4 jobs per working resident, and 2,751 people come in to work
The two grades for Rockport are B− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Employers in Rockport report 3,088 jobs, and 1,300 of its residents work somewhere. About one in four work in Rockport; the top destination outside it is Rockland (16%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Rockport, in brief
Commutes from Rockport are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 25 across Maine. That’s about 107 hours a year less on the road than the typical Maine worker. Time on the road ↓
Rockport is where the jobs are
Rockport has 3,088 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,400 people are in town, 49% more than the 3,600 who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Rockport works one town over
28% of working residents work in a town that borders Rockport: Rockland (16%), Camden (10%) and Warren (2%). Next door ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The figures behind Rockport’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rockport is better than 49% of U.S. towns, #85 of 143 in Maine. The poverty rate holds Rockport’s grade up (5.3%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (6.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rockport could be anywhere from C to A.
The trip to work from Rockport: about 11 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rockport workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,479 commuters (the 17% 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.
Rockport fills up on a workday
On a workday 963 residents head out to work and 337 work right here.
About 5,400 people are in Rockport on a workday afternoon, 49% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The daily trip into Rockport
Where Rockport clocks in
16% of workers
10% of workers
5% 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 Rockport’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rockport, 2014 → 2024: 3,197 → 3,088. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rockport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Rockport
About 15% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most trips from Rockport start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rockport is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns, #48 of 143 in Maine. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.0% across Maine.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,785 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). 3.9% of Rockport households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Rockport’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,900, Rockport ranks 2,325th of 4,474 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 358 | North Yarmouth ME | 4,424 | $129K | 4.8% | 1.9% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 755 | Arundel ME | 4,596 | $102K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 802 | Limington ME | 4,173 | $85K | 3.4% | 0.4% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,323 | Fredericktown OH | 2,658 | $66K | 12.5% | 2.4% | 8% | B− |
| 2,324 | West Reading PA | 4,590 | $66K | 14.8% | 4.6% | 11% | B− |
| 2,325 | Rockport ME | 3,628 | $87K | 5.3% | 6.6% | 26% | B− |
| 2,326 | Long Beach Township NJ | 3,148 | $113K | 4.5% | 12.2% | 10% | B− |
| 2,327 | Silvercreek Township OH | 3,839 | $69K | 9.9% | 4.4% | 12% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,474 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Rockport, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
28% of Rockport works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rockport workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockport | – | B− | B | 11 min | $86,979 |
| Camden | 10% | C | A− | 22 min | $82,344 |
| Rockland | 16% | C− | A | 12 min | $56,533 |
| North Haven | under 2% | — | — | 9 min | — |
| Warren | 2% | B+ | C+ | 23 min | $74,616 |
Same-state neighbors only. North Haven: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Rockland. Darker towns draw more of Rockport’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 2024, 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 Rockport: questions
What is the median household income in Rockport?
$86,979 (±$16,032) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rockport?
5.3%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rockport?
11 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rockport work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockland (16%, 4 mi), Camden (10%, 4 mi), Belfast (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Rockport walkable?
Rockport is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rockport without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rockport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rockport
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.