First Universalist Society of West Sumner · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Sumner works elsewhere
Employers in Sumner report 80 jobs, against 422 working residents. For jobs and income Sumner is better than 29% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (C+). Household incomes here are lower than in 77% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Sumner: the gist
Sumner workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 42 minutes each way, against 25 across Maine. Over a year that’s about 322 hours of commuting, 130 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Sumner is a place people come home to
There are 80 jobs based in Sumner, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sumner has about 660 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Sumner’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Sumner is Lewiston, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (50) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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 422 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Sumner
The poverty rate holds Sumner’s grade up (5.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.4%) is left out: Sumner’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, Sumner could be anywhere from D to B−.
About 42 minutes each way for Sumner’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sumner workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 303 commuters (the 19% 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.
In and out of Sumner on a workday
On a workday 416 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 74 people come in from elsewhere.
About 660 people are in Sumner on a workday afternoon, 34% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Sumner
About 21% 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.
12% of working residents work in Lewiston
Where Sumner clocks in
12% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Sumner
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sumner, 2013 → 2023: 81 → 80. 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 Sumner’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Sumner, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 4.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 372 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). 3.5% of Sumner households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sumner’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Sumner is 1,777th among 3,133 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 |
| … | |||||||
| 1,775 | Friendship ME | 1,159 | $76K | 10.0% | 0.8% | 6% | C |
| 1,776 | Bowmans Addition MD | 1,102 | $82K | 29.0% | 1.9% | 1% | C |
| 1,777 | Sumner ME | 1,006 | $58K | 5.8% | 2.4% | 1% | C |
| 1,778 | Sigel WI | 1,162 | $82K | 21.3% | 4.3% | 1% | C |
| 1,779 | Seelyville IN | 1,000 | $57K | 10.5% | 2.6% | 2% | 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 Sumner, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Sumner and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Peru (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sumner workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sumner | – | C | C+ | 42 min | $57,750 |
| Hartford | under 3% | C+ | D− | 41 min | $87,115 |
| Buckfield | under 3% | B− | D− | 31 min | $77,917 |
| Woodstock | under 3% | C− | D | 29 min | $63,015 |
| Peru | 3% | C− | C | 29 min | $66,827 |
| West Paris | under 3% | D | C | 32 min | $56,324 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sumner’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 Sumner: questions
What is the median household income in Sumner?
$57,750 (±$19,486) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sumner?
5.8%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sumner?
42 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sumner work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lewiston (12%, 24 mi), Rumford (8%, 15 mi), Auburn (7%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sumner walkable?
Sumner is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sumner without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sumner, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sumner
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.