Maine Central School · Photo: Tkeator · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Maine works elsewhere
Only 5% work in Maine itself; outside it, Union draws the most (25%, 5 miles). There are 804 jobs in Maine, and 2,099 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Maine are C for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Maine stands out on work
Commutes from Maine are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Maine and Union trade workers both ways
Union is the top workplace for Maine residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Maine come from (23% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Maine
61% of Maine residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 43% of the jobs based in Maine pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
41% of the jobs in Maine are in trade, transport and utilities, against 19% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
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.
Maine’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Maine is better than 27% of U.S. towns, #609 of 758 in New York. The poverty rate holds Maine’s grade up (11.6%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (7.6%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Maine could be anywhere from D to B+.
About 20 minutes each way for Maine’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Maine workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,753 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The places Maine commutes to
Where Maine clocks in
25% of workers
14% 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.
Jobs in Maine: what the 804 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Maine, 2013 → 2023: 626 → 804. 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 Maine’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Maine: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,001 residents head out to work, 98 work right here, and 706 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,700 people are in Maine on a workday afternoon, 26% 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 2023, primary jobs.
How many miles Maine commutes
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 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 Maine start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Maine is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns, #737 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Maine 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 1,961 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 20% 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). 4.0% of Maine households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Maine’s commuters take a bus or train.
Maine places 2,886th of 3,758 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 22 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,884 | Logan Township IN | 3,694 | $68K | 15.4% | 4.9% | 22% | C |
| 2,885 | Fairfield Township NJ | 5,440 | $61K | 10.3% | 9.2% | 5% | C |
| 2,886 | Maine NY | 5,001 | $69K | 11.6% | 7.6% | 5% | C |
| 2,887 | Mayfair CA | 5,044 | $62K | 18.9% | 14.7% | 1% | C |
| 2,888 | Wauchula FL | 4,946 | $53K | 38.1% | 0.2% | 18% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,758 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Maine, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Maine and its neighbors: 31% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Maine workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maine | – | C | D | 20 min | $69,115 |
| Newark Valley | under 2% | B− | D | 29 min | $80,938 |
| Chenango | 2% | C+ | C− | 24 min | $86,646 |
| Union | 25% | C | A− | 18 min | $61,713 |
| Nanticoke | under 2% | C− | C | 23 min | $69,432 |
| Owego | 4% | B− | B | 20 min | $86,263 |
| Glen Aubrey | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Barker | under 2% | C− | D | 27 min | $64,348 |
Same-state neighbors only. Glen Aubrey: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Union. Darker towns draw more of Maine’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 Maine: questions
What is the median household income in Maine?
$69,115 (±$18,577) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Maine?
11.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Maine?
20 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Maine work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Union (25%, 5 mi), Binghamton (14%, 8 mi), Vestal (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Maine walkable?
Maine is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Maine 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 Maine, from the people who make the trip.
More of Maine
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.