Work & commute · Athens

Work & commute in Athens, ME

Most working residents leave Athens for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Skowhegan (13%), Bangor (6%) and Pittsfield (5%). Half commute less than 25 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

48 of 409 working residents

Typical commute

25 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 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 361 Athens residents head out of town to work, 48 work right here, and 132 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Athens.

361live here, work elsewhere

48live and work here

132work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Athens goes to work

Skowhegan14 mi away

13%55

Athens (in town)right here

12%48

Bangor44 mi away

6%24

Pittsfield17.7 mi away

5%20

Augusta43.7 mi away

4%18

Waterville29 mi away

3%14

Harmony6 mi away

3%14

Dexter19.5 mi away

3%11

Guilford23 mi away

2%8

Newport22.9 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

46%190

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

How far

How far Athens commutes

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

17%

32%

27%

24%

17%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

27%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Athens is a commuter town

0.44jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Athens are

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

Jobs based in Athens

180 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)37%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)39%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month42%

Jobs Athens residents hold

409 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month50%

+10%

Jobs based in Athens, 2013 → 2023: 164 → 180. 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.