Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainMost of Solon commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
There are 183 jobs in Solon for 390 working residents. Jobs and income earn Solon C−; getting around on foot earns it B−. Only 4% stay in Solon for work; outside it, Skowhegan is the main destination (12%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Solon in brief
Solon workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 52 minutes each way, against 25 across Maine. Over a year that’s about 399 hours of commuting, 207 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (27 to 33 minutes). Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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; with 390 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Solon’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Solon is better than 20% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Solon’s grade up (10.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (9.4%) is left out: Solon’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, Solon could be anywhere from D− to B.
Getting to work from Solon takes about 52 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 16.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Solon workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 420 commuters (the 9% 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.
How many miles Solon commutes
About 36% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Solon
On a workday 374 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 167 people come in from elsewhere.
About 800 people are in Solon on a workday afternoon, 21% 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.
The towns that employ Solon’s residents
Where Solon clocks in
12% of workers
12% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 54% of the jobs in Solon
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Solon, 2013 → 2023: 170 → 183. 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 Solon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Few in Solon walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Solon is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 462 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). 1.4% of Solon households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Solon’s commuters take a bus or train.
Solon places 2,111th of 3,133 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 467 | Edgecomb ME | 1,214 | $109K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 730 | Georgetown ME | 1,101 | $84K | 6.3% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 818 | Wayne ME | 1,167 | $93K | 7.9% | 1.3% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | Strongs Prairie WI | 1,224 | $66K | 10.6% | 4.7% | 2% | C− |
| 2,110 | Grandview IL | 1,389 | $49K | 26.5% | 9.9% | 1% | C− |
| 2,111 | Solon ME | 1,008 | $69K | 10.7% | 9.4% | 4% | C− |
| 2,112 | Burns NY | 1,011 | $64K | 11.6% | 7.6% | 8% | C− |
| 2,113 | Bellmont NY | 1,328 | $70K | 11.1% | 5.8% | 3% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Solon, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
18% of Solon works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Solon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solon | – | C− | B− | 52 min | $69,205 |
| Embden | under 3% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Athens | under 3% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Madison | 6% | C+ | B | 27 min | $61,747 |
| Bingham | 12% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Brighton plantation | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Embden, Athens, Bingham and Brighton plantation: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Bingham. Darker towns draw more of Solon’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 Solon: questions
What is the median household income in Solon?
$69,205 (±$20,458) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Solon?
10.7%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Solon?
52 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Solon work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Skowhegan (12%, 14 mi), Bingham (12%, 5 mi), Madison (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Solon walkable?
Solon is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Solon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Solon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Solon
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.