Porter-Bell-Brackley Estate · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Strong earn less than those in 90% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 31 minutes each way, where Maine has 25 and the U.S. 26. Below the poverty line: 13.9% of residents, next to 10.7% across Maine. Jobs and income earn Strong D; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Strong at work: what stands out
Strong and Farmington trade workers both ways
Farmington is the top workplace for Strong residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Strong come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Strong workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 25 across Maine. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 46 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 462 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Strong’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Strong is better than 6% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Strong’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 5% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Strong’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Strong could be anywhere from D− to C−.
15% of working residents work in Farmington
Where Strong clocks in
15% of workers
5% 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.
Getting to work from Strong takes about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Strong workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 415 commuters (the 18% 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.
A workday in Strong: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 431 residents head out to work, 31 work right here, and 210 people come in from elsewhere.
About 900 people are in Strong on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.52 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.
Strong works in goods: 47% of its jobs
241 jobs are based in Strong.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Strong, 2013 → 2023: 255 → 241. 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 Strong’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Strong
About 28% 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 Strong commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Strong is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.7% 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 509 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). 6.6% of Strong households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Strong’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500, Strong ranks 3,305th of 3,771 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 587 | Edgecomb ME | 1,214 | $109K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 904 | Georgetown ME | 1,101 | $84K | 6.3% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,008 | Wayne ME | 1,167 | $93K | 7.9% | 1.3% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,303 | Altamont TN | 1,203 | $41K | 15.9% | 13.0% | 14% | D |
| 3,304 | Mount Hope WV | 1,234 | $34K | 32.3% | 14.6% | 2% | D |
| 3,305 | Strong ME | 1,122 | $48K | 13.9% | 0.0% | 7% | D |
| 3,306 | Easton WI | 1,078 | $54K | 19.5% | 7.2% | 1% | D |
| 3,307 | Lone Star TX | 1,391 | $39K | 28.0% | 8.1% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | 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 Strong, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Strong and its neighbors: 15% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Strong workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong | – | D | B | 31 min | $47,557 |
| Avon | under 3% | — | — | 42 min | — |
| New Vineyard | under 3% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Farmington | 15% | D | A− | 27 min | $54,276 |
Same-state neighbors only. Avon and New Vineyard: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Farmington. Darker towns draw more of Strong’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 Strong: questions
What is the median household income in Strong?
$47,557 (±$10,333) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Strong?
13.9%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Strong?
31 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Strong work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Farmington (15%, 8 mi), Augusta (5%, 39 mi), Wilton (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Strong walkable?
Strong is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Strong without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Strong, from the people who make the trip.
More of Strong
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.