Photo: Adolphus79 · Public domainHouseholds in Washburn have lower incomes than those in 80% of U.S. towns
12.7% of residents live below the poverty line (Maine 10.7%). For jobs and income Washburn is better than 11% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (C−). About one in ten work in Washburn itself; outside it, Presque Isle draws the most (25%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Washburn
Why Washburn gets the Jobs & income grade it does
The poverty rate holds Washburn’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 6% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (7.4%) is left out: Washburn’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, Washburn could be anywhere from D to C−.
Washburn makes things: 44% of its jobs are in goods
381 jobs are based in Washburn.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Washburn, 2014 → 2024: 232 → 381. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Washburn’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Washburn by day
On a workday 538 residents head out to work, 71 work right here, and 310 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Washburn on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.63 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 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Washburn’s residents
Where Washburn clocks in
25% of workers
23% of workers
4% 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.
How long Washburn spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Washburn workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 522 commuters (the 10% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Washburn
About 22% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how Washburn gets around
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 5.0% across Maine, on an EPA index of 4.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 578 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). 7.9% of Washburn households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Washburn’s commuters take a bus or train.
Washburn next to U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000: 5,115th of 6,308 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 515 | Ogunquit ME | 1,606 | $114K | 3.2% | 0.0% | 24% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 556 | Pownal ME | 1,645 | $104K | 5.5% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 614 | Newcastle ME | 1,915 | $90K | 3.5% | 0.0% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,113 | La Grulla TX | 1,234 | $37K | 19.2% | 9.0% | 0% | D |
| 5,114 | McMechen WV | 1,605 | $40K | 27.5% | 7.5% | 2% | D |
| 5,115 | Washburn ME | 1,499 | $56K | 12.7% | 7.4% | 12% | D |
| 5,116 | Branch Township MI | 1,413 | $62K | 14.4% | 7.1% | 2% | D |
| 5,117 | Sebastian TX | 1,021 | $23K | 38.0% | 12.6% | <1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Washburn, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
The towns around Washburn
The biggest share goes to Woodland (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Washburn workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washburn | – | D | C− | 21 min | $56,196 |
| Mapleton | under 2% | C+ | C− | 28 min | $91,731 |
| Wade | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Woodland | 3% | D | D− | 20 min | $64,464 |
Same-state neighbors only. Wade: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Washburn’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 2024, 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 Washburn: questions
What is the median household income in Washburn?
$56,196 (±$5,829) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Washburn?
12.7%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Washburn?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Washburn work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Presque Isle (25%, 9 mi), Caribou (23%, 9 mi), Bangor (4%, 139 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Washburn walkable?
Washburn is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Washburn without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Washburn, from the people who make the trip.
More of Washburn
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.