Work & commute · Alfred

Work & commute in Alfred, ME

Most working residents leave Alfred for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Sanford (12%), Portland (10%) and Biddeford (7%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

87 of 1,386 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,299 Alfred residents head out of town to work, 87 work right here, and 593 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Alfred.

1,299live here, work elsewhere

87live and work here

593work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Alfred goes to work

Sanford4.1 mi away

12%167

Portland29.2 mi away

10%142

Biddeford17 mi away

7%98

Alfred (in town)right here

6%87

Scarborough20.7 mi away

5%67

North Berwick9.1 mi away

5%65

Waterboro8.5 mi away

5%63

Kennebunk11 mi away

4%61

Saco15.8 mi away

3%48

South Portland24.5 mi away

3%46

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%542

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Alfred commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

28%

41%

19%

12%

28%Under 10 mi

41%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

12%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Alfred is a commuter town

0.49jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.49 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Alfred are

680 jobs are based in Alfred. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alfred’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Alfred

680 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Alfred residents hold

1,386 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+18%

Jobs based in Alfred, 2013 → 2023: 577 → 680. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.