Surry Town Hall · Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Surry has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 2% stay in Surry for work; outside it, Blue Hill is the main destination (23%, 5 miles). Employers in Surry report 138 jobs, and 561 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Surry are C+ for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Surry apart on work
Much of Surry works one town over
45% of working residents work in a town that borders Surry: Blue Hill (23%), Ellsworth (19%) and Trenton (3%). Next door ↓
Surry is a place people come home to
There are 138 jobs based in Surry, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Surry has about 1,300 people in it, 25% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Surry 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 561 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Surry’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Surry is better than 39% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Surry’s grade up (7.0%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (4.8%) is left out: Surry’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, Surry could be anywhere from C− to B.
How many people are in Surry by day
On a workday 550 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 127 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Surry on a workday afternoon, 25% 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.
Time on the road from Surry: 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 Surry workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 771 commuters (the 11% 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.
Out of Surry to work: where people go
Where Surry clocks in
23% of workers
19% 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.
Surry makes things: 39% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Surry, 2013 → 2023: 109 → 138. 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 Surry’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Surry
About 16% 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 Surry commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Surry is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.0% across Maine.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 870 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). 2.0% of Surry households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Surry’s commuters take a bus or train.
Surry next to U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300: 2,858th of 5,760 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 263 | Dayton ME | 2,182 | $114K | 3.7% | 0.2% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 543 | Ogunquit ME | 1,606 | $114K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 591 | Pownal ME | 1,645 | $104K | 5.5% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,856 | Apple River WI | 1,205 | $75K | 7.3% | 3.8% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,857 | Lake Mills IA | 2,050 | $62K | 15.3% | 1.6% | 25% | C+ |
| 2,858 | Surry ME | 1,692 | $75K | 7.0% | 4.8% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,859 | Watson Township MI | 2,264 | $65K | 16.3% | 1.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,860 | Arthur Township MN | 1,856 | $72K | 7.1% | 7.9% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Surry, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Next door is work for 45% of Surry
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Surry workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surry | – | C+ | D | 31 min | $74,508 |
| Ellsworth | 19% | B− | A− | 25 min | $77,375 |
| Blue Hill | 23% | C+ | A− | 21 min | $80,377 |
| Penobscot | under 2% | D | B− | 25 min | $63,194 |
| Trenton | 3% | D | C | 29 min | $60,455 |
| Mount Desert | under 2% | B− | A− | 18 min | $92,813 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Blue Hill. Darker towns draw more of Surry’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 Surry: questions
What is the median household income in Surry?
$74,508 (±$12,379) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Surry?
7.0%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Surry?
31 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Surry work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Blue Hill (23%, 5 mi), Ellsworth (19%, 8 mi), Bar Harbor (7%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Surry walkable?
Surry is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Surry without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Surry, from the people who make the trip.
More of Surry
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.