Parson Smith House · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Windham (1.5%) than in 90% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Windham itself; outside it, Portland draws the most (26%, 16 miles). Windham grades A for jobs and income and B for walkability. Measured by household income, Windham is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Windham, in a few figures
Windham’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Windham is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #4 of 143 in Maine. The poverty rate is its strongest input (3.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Windham could be anywhere from A to A+.
The 6,172 jobs based in Windham
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Windham, 2013 → 2023: 5,306 → 6,172. 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 Windham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Windham quiets down on a workday
On a workday 8,194 residents head out to work, 1,232 work right here, and 4,940 people come in from elsewhere.
About 17,000 people are in Windham on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.65 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.
Where Windham goes to work
Where Windham clocks in
26% of workers
9% of workers
8% 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.
Time on the road from Windham: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Windham workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,608 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.
The distance from Windham to work
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 Windham start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Windham is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #52 of 143 in Maine. Both inputs place Windham near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,628 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 16% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 41% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.5% of Windham households have no vehicle (Maine 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Windham’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Windham ranks: 230th of 1,860 U.S. towns of 14,000 to 27,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 190 | Scarborough ME | 24,547 | $134K | 4.4% | 2.2% | 19% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 228 | Cottage Lake WA | 22,518 | $213K | 3.2% | 4.1% | 2% | A |
| 229 | West University Place TX | 15,158 | $250K | 1.7% | 5.9% | 3% | A |
| 230 | Windham ME | 19,912 | $108K | 3.4% | 1.5% | 13% | A |
| 231 | Canton MA | 25,165 | $143K | 5.2% | 3.8% | 10% | A |
| 232 | Goffstown NH | 18,607 | $114K | 6.4% | 0.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 319 | Gorham ME | 19,239 | $112K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 521 | Saco ME | 21,159 | $92K | 6.4% | 2.1% | 14% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,860 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Windham, the top three, the last and three more from Maine.
The towns next door employ 15% of Windham
The biggest share goes to Westbrook (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Windham workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windham | – | A | B | 26 min | $107,934 |
| Gorham | 3% | A | A− | 27 min | $112,312 |
| Standish | under 2% | A− | B− | 29 min | $104,593 |
| Little Falls | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Gray | under 2% | A− | C− | 29 min | $95,236 |
| Westbrook | 9% | A− | A− | 19 min | $85,038 |
| Falmouth | 3% | A+ | C+ | 23 min | $150,919 |
| Raymond | under 2% | B+ | B | 37 min | $88,194 |
| Cumberland | under 2% | A+ | C+ | 24 min | $173,894 |
Same-state neighbors only. Little Falls: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Windham’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 Windham: questions
What is the median household income in Windham?
$107,934 (±$14,330) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,733 across Maine and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Windham?
3.4%, against 10.7% across Maine and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Windham?
26 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Maine and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Windham work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (26%, 16 mi), Westbrook (9%, 6 mi), South Portland (8%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Windham walkable?
Windham is more walkable than 55% 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 Windham without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Windham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Windham
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.