Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainWith 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Rome works elsewhere
Home is the office for 7% of workers, where Maine as a whole has 16%. Rome has 107 jobs; 448 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Rome are C+ for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Rome
Rome is a place people come home to
There are 107 jobs based in Rome, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Rome has about 840 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Rome workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 25 across Maine. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 448 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Rome’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Rome is better than 37% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Rome’s grade up ($77,639, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 23% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (4.8%) is left out: Rome’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, Rome could be anywhere from D to B+.
How many people are in Rome by day
On a workday 441 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 100 people come in from elsewhere.
About 840 people are in Rome on a workday afternoon, 29% 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.
Rome’s commute takes about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rome workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 424 commuters (the 7% 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.
21% of working residents work in Augusta
Where Rome clocks in
21% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
Rome is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rome, 2013 → 2023: 34 → 107. 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 Rome’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Rome goes to work
About 17% 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.
Most of Rome commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rome is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 458 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). 0.0% of Rome households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rome’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Rome ranks: 2,036th of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 689 | Edgecomb ME | 1,214 | $109K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,052 | Georgetown ME | 1,101 | $84K | 6.3% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,115 | South Thomaston ME | 1,520 | $87K | 4.2% | 0.0% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,034 | Taft Mosswood CA | 1,343 | $59K | 18.4% | 4.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,035 | Vernon NY | 1,151 | $64K | 12.4% | 2.9% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,036 | Rome ME | 1,184 | $78K | 10.3% | 4.8% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,037 | Nordland Township MN | 1,027 | $76K | 6.4% | 2.2% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,038 | Laurel Township OH | 1,053 | $64K | 6.3% | 0.0% | <1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Rome, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Next door to Rome
The biggest share goes to Mount Vernon (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rome workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rome | – | C+ | D | 30 min | $77,639 |
| Smithfield | under 3% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Belgrade | 3% | B− | D | 23 min | $88,338 |
| Mount Vernon | 4% | C+ | D | 32 min | $74,395 |
| Vienna | under 3% | — | — | 62 min | — |
| Mercer | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| New Sharon | under 3% | C | C+ | 30 min | $63,889 |
Same-state neighbors only. Smithfield, Vienna and Mercer: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rome’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 Rome: questions
What is the median household income in Rome?
$77,639 (±$24,770) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rome?
10.3%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rome?
30 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rome work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Augusta (21%, 17 mi), Readfield (7%, 13 mi), Waterville (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rome walkable?
Rome is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rome without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rome, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rome
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.