Heron Neck Light Station · Photo: US Coast Guard · Public domainVinalhaven at work: jobs, income and the commute
The average commute takes 19 minutes each way, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. For jobs and income Vinalhaven is better than 32% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (B). Household incomes here are lower than in 54% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Vinalhaven
Most jobs in Vinalhaven go to people who live here
Of the 300 jobs based in Vinalhaven, 50% are held by Vinalhaven residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Vinalhaven and North Haven trade workers both ways
North Haven is the top workplace for Vinalhaven residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Vinalhaven come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Vinalhaven are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 25 across Maine. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Maine 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 366 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Vinalhaven: the grade in detail
The poverty rate holds Vinalhaven’s grade up (7.3%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.2%) is left out: Vinalhaven’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, Vinalhaven could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Who commutes out of Vinalhaven, and who commutes in
On a workday 215 residents head out to work, 151 work right here, and 149 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.82 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
19% of working residents work in North Haven
Where Vinalhaven clocks in
19% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
From Vinalhaven, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vinalhaven workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 380 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.
What Vinalhaven’s employers do
300 jobs are based in Vinalhaven.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vinalhaven, 2013 → 2023: 230 → 300. 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 Vinalhaven’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Vinalhaven commutes less than 7 miles
About 23% 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 trips from Vinalhaven start in a car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 471 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). 2.4% of Vinalhaven households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Vinalhaven’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700, Vinalhaven comes 2,639th 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 378 | Ogunquit ME | 1,606 | $114K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 406 | Pownal ME | 1,645 | $104K | 5.5% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 782 | Edgecomb ME | 1,214 | $109K | 5.6% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,637 | Kingsley MI | 1,455 | $67K | 9.2% | 4.4% | 5% | C |
| 2,638 | Ashton Township IL | 1,120 | $71K | 12.0% | 7.9% | 11% | C |
| 2,639 | Vinalhaven ME | 1,254 | $73K | 7.3% | 2.2% | 41% | C |
| 2,640 | West Park CA | 1,136 | $61K | 26.2% | 13.4% | 1% | C |
| 2,641 | Cedar Hill MO | 1,261 | $61K | 15.9% | 3.7% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | 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 Vinalhaven, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Work next door: 19% of Vinalhaven’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Vinalhaven workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vinalhaven | – | C | B | 19 min | $72,963 |
| North Haven | 19% | — | — | 9 min | — |
| Matinicus Isle plantation | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Isle au Haut | under 2% | — | — | 4 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. North Haven, Matinicus Isle plantation and Isle au Haut: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to North Haven. Darker towns draw more of Vinalhaven’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 Vinalhaven: questions
What is the median household income in Vinalhaven?
$72,963 (±$11,486) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vinalhaven?
7.3%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vinalhaven?
19 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vinalhaven work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are North Haven (19%, 10 mi), Rockland (4%, 18 mi), Portland (3%, 74 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vinalhaven walkable?
Vinalhaven is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vinalhaven 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 Vinalhaven, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vinalhaven
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.