James Leavitt House · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Waterboro has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Employers in Waterboro report 1,652 jobs, and 4,139 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Waterboro is better than 68% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (D). About one in ten work in Waterboro itself; outside it, Portland draws the most (14%, 27 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Waterboro
Waterboro workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 25 across Maine. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Waterboro’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Waterboro is Portland, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (577) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Waterboro empties out on a workday
About 5,700 people are in Waterboro on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than the 8,200 who live here: 3,800 head out to work and 1,300 come in. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Waterboro’s grade explained
The poverty rate holds Waterboro’s grade up (6.0%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waterboro could be anywhere from C+ to A.
The daily trip from Waterboro: about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waterboro workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,862 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.
Half of Waterboro commutes less than 19 miles
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.
How many people are in Waterboro by day
On a workday 3,755 residents head out to work, 384 work right here, and 1,268 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,700 people are in Waterboro on a workday afternoon, 30% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where people from Waterboro work
Where Waterboro clocks in
14% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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 Waterboro
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waterboro, 2014 → 2024: 1,271 → 1,652. 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 Waterboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most of Waterboro commutes by car
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 4,290 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). 1.1% of Waterboro households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waterboro’s commuters take a bus or train.
Waterboro is 1,169th of 2,956 U.S. towns of 5,800 to 11,100 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Cumberland ME | 8,876 | $174K | 3.1% | 0.2% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 309 | Cape Elizabeth ME | 9,827 | $146K | 5.2% | 2.5% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 367 | Buxton ME | 8,681 | $100K | 2.3% | 1.4% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,167 | Baugo Township IN | 9,595 | $81K | 8.9% | 3.5% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,168 | Hillsborough NH | 6,134 | $84K | 6.0% | 2.2% | 14% | B+ |
| 1,169 | Waterboro ME | 8,219 | $89K | 6.0% | 2.8% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,170 | Avon NY | 6,937 | $76K | 6.9% | 3.6% | 16% | B+ |
| 1,171 | Yarmouth ME | 9,062 | $110K | 10.2% | 4.4% | 17% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,956 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Waterboro, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
Waterboro and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Waterboro workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterboro | – | B+ | D | 35 min | $89,392 |
| Limerick | under 3% | B+ | C | 38 min | $101,172 |
| Alfred | under 3% | B | C− | 28 min | $82,321 |
| Limington | under 3% | A− | D | 35 min | $84,675 |
| Lyman | under 3% | B | C | 33 min | $87,284 |
| Hollis | under 3% | A− | C | 29 min | $95,950 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Waterboro’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 Waterboro: questions
What is the median household income in Waterboro?
$89,392 (±$15,756) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waterboro?
6.0%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waterboro?
35 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waterboro work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (14%, 27 mi), Biddeford (7%, 20 mi), South Portland (6%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Waterboro walkable?
Waterboro is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waterboro without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waterboro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waterboro
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.