Photo: InAweofGod'sCreation · CC BY 2.0Households in Unity earn less than those in 69% of U.S. towns
Only 7% work in Unity itself; outside it, Bangor draws the most (8%, 33 miles). 17.3% of residents are in poverty, where Maine as a whole has 10.7%. Jobs and income earn Unity C−; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Unity stands out on work
Unity’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Unity is Bangor, 33 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (63) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The quickest commute around
Unity’s 21-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 30 to 50 minutes. Next door ↓
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 743 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Unity gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Unity is better than 19% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Unity’s grade up (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 19% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Unity could be anywhere from D to B−.
Half of Unity commutes less than 21 miles
About 17% 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.
Who works in Unity, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 688 residents head out to work, 55 work right here, and 461 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Unity on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.69 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 Unity’s residents
Where Unity clocks in
8% 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.
The kinds of work in Unity
516 jobs are based in Unity.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Unity, 2013 → 2023: 589 → 516. 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 Unity’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Unity’s commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Unity workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 751 commuters (the 16% 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.
Unity is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Unity is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 21.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 6.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 892 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). 11.1% of Unity households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Unity’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Unity is 4,041st of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 287 | Dayton ME | 2,182 | $114K | 3.7% | 0.2% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 598 | Ogunquit ME | 1,606 | $114K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 655 | Pownal ME | 1,645 | $104K | 5.5% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | Nixon TX | 2,406 | $38K | 18.1% | 2.6% | 22% | C− |
| 4,040 | West Tawakoni TX | 2,261 | $60K | 19.9% | 5.7% | <1% | C− |
| 4,041 | Unity ME | 2,307 | $63K | 17.3% | 4.8% | 7% | C− |
| 4,042 | Sheridan Township MI | 1,911 | $60K | 10.1% | 14.5% | 2% | C− |
| 4,043 | Ronald Township MI | 1,899 | $63K | 11.9% | 2.6% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | 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 Unity, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Unity and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Thorndike (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Unity workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unity | – | C− | A− | 21 min | $62,857 |
| Thorndike | 3% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Troy | under 3% | D− | C− | 50 min | $44,583 |
| Freedom | under 3% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Albion | under 3% | D | C− | 34 min | $62,361 |
| Knox | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Thorndike: not graded. Freedom and Knox: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Unity’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 Unity: questions
What is the median household income in Unity?
$62,857 (±$6,065) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Unity?
17.3%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Unity?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Unity work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bangor (8%, 33 mi), Belfast (8%, 19 mi), Waterville (7%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Unity walkable?
Unity is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 22% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Unity without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Unity, from the people who make the trip.
More of Unity
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.