Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Rumford trail those of 97% of U.S. towns
7% of workers work from home (Maine 16%). Below the poverty line: 22.6% of residents, where Maine as a whole has 10.7%. The two grades for Rumford are D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Rumford apart on work
Rumford trades workers with the towns around it
Rumford has about as many jobs (2,161) as working residents (2,505), but they are mostly different people: 1,923 residents leave for work each day while 1,579 people come in. Only 27% of the jobs in Rumford are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
The quickest commute around
Rumford’s 21-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 24 to 29 minutes. Next door ↓
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.
Rumford’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rumford is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #143 of 143 in Maine. Unemployment holds Rumford’s grade up (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($38,403, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rumford could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Rumford on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,923 residents head out to work, 582 work right here, and 1,579 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 (0.86 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.
The towns that employ Rumford’s residents
Where Rumford clocks in
7% of workers
4% 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.
Rumford works in goods: 33% of its jobs
2,161 jobs are based in Rumford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rumford, 2013 → 2023: 2,476 → 2,161. 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 Rumford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 21 minutes to work from Rumford
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rumford workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,063 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.
Where in the region Rumford works
About 27% 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.
Rumford is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rumford is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #34 of 143 in Maine. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,208 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). 13.6% of Rumford households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rumford’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Rumford compares with U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,100
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 343 | North Yarmouth ME | 4,424 | $129K | 4.8% | 1.9% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 706 | Arundel ME | 4,596 | $102K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 733 | Hollis ME | 5,003 | $96K | 5.7% | 1.8% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,269 | Avra Valley AZ | 6,277 | $54K | 18.8% | 13.4% | 2% | D |
| 3,270 | Seaside OR | 7,092 | $47K | 17.6% | 8.1% | 31% | D |
| 3,271 | Rumford ME | 6,025 | $38K | 22.6% | 5.4% | 23% | D |
| 3,272 | Palermo CA | 5,266 | $51K | 20.1% | 10.6% | 4% | D |
| 3,273 | Lake City SC | 5,940 | $34K | 25.7% | 9.7% | 11% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,394 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Rumford, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Work next door: 10% of Rumford’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rumford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rumford | – | D | B+ | 21 min | $38,403 |
| Mexico | 7% | C− | A− | 24 min | $55,727 |
| Bethel | 3% | D | C | 26 min | $58,929 |
| Peru | under 3% | C− | C | 29 min | $66,827 |
| Roxbury | under 3% | — | — | 29 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Roxbury: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Mexico. Darker towns draw more of Rumford’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 Rumford: questions
What is the median household income in Rumford?
$38,403 (±$6,302) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rumford?
22.6%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rumford?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rumford work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mexico (7%, 6 mi), Lewiston (7%, 40 mi), Portland (4%, 68 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rumford walkable?
Rumford is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rumford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rumford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rumford
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.