Photo: Dougtone · CC BY-SA 2.0St. George has some of the lowest unemployment in the country, with hardly anyone out of work
About one in five stay in St. George for work; outside it, Rockland is the main destination (21%, 16 miles). St. George grades B+ for jobs and income and C for walkability. The trip to work takes 25 minutes on average, where Maine has 25 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
St. George at work: what stands out
Where St. George’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. George is better than 65% of U.S. towns, #51 of 143 in Maine. Unemployment holds St. George’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. George could be anywhere from B− to A−.
The 373 jobs based in St. George
373 jobs are based in St. George.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. George, 2013 → 2023: 277 → 373. 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 St. George’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of St. George on a workday
On a workday 564 residents head out to work, 163 work right here, and 210 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in St. George on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.51 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The towns that employ St. George’s residents
Where St. George clocks in
21% of workers
7% 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.
The trip to work from St. George: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. George workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 933 commuters (the 20% 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 far St. George goes to work
About 19% 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 St. George commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. George is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns, #81 of 143 in Maine. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,168 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). 4.8% of St. George households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of St. George’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,483rd of 5,083: where St. George ranks among U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 306 | Dayton ME | 2,182 | $114K | 3.7% | 0.2% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 755 | Newcastle ME | 1,915 | $90K | 3.5% | 0.0% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 759 | West Bath ME | 1,970 | $103K | 3.2% | 3.5% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,481 | Paynesville MN | 2,591 | $75K | 5.6% | 2.4% | 34% | B+ |
| 1,482 | Palmyra NY | 3,257 | $65K | 10.4% | 0.7% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,483 | St. George ME | 2,595 | $89K | 7.7% | 0.0% | 22% | B+ |
| 1,484 | Sands Township MI | 2,363 | $87K | 7.5% | 1.5% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,485 | Amanda Township OH | 2,763 | $81K | 11.9% | 2.4% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 St. George, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
St. George and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. George workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. George | – | B+ | C | 25 min | $89,155 |
| Cushing | under 2% | C+ | C− | 23 min | $83,500 |
| South Thomaston | under 2% | B | C | 16 min | $86,838 |
| Bristol | under 2% | C+ | B | 18 min | $100,750 |
| Friendship | under 2% | C | C+ | 25 min | $75,625 |
| Monhegan plantation | under 2% | — | — | 9 min | — |
| Matinicus Isle plantation | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Monhegan plantation and Matinicus Isle plantation: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of St. George’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 St. George: questions
What is the median household income in St. George?
$89,155 (±$9,980) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. George?
7.7%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. George?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. George work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rockland (21%, 16 mi), Thomaston (7%, 14 mi), Rockport (5%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. George walkable?
St. George is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. George without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. George, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. George
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.