Work & commute · Bowdoin

Work & commute in Bowdoin, ME

Most working residents leave Bowdoin for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Bath (9%), Topsham (9%) and Brunswick (9%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

50 of 1,486 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,436 Bowdoin residents head out of town to work, 50 work right here, and 256 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bowdoin.

1,436live here, work elsewhere

50live and work here

256work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bowdoin goes to work

Bath11.5 mi away

9%141

Topsham7.5 mi away

9%141

Brunswick12.2 mi away

9%132

Portland32.2 mi away

8%121

Lewiston10.1 mi away

6%86

Augusta21.5 mi away

5%80

Auburn13.9 mi away

4%53

Freeport16.8 mi away

4%53

Bowdoin (in town)right here

3%50

South Portland34.3 mi away

3%44

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%585

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

How far

How far Bowdoin commutes

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

26%

41%

25%

26%Under 10 mi

41%10–24 mi

25%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bowdoin is a commuter town

0.21jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Bowdoin are

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

Jobs based in Bowdoin

306 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)53%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)34%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs Bowdoin residents hold

1,486 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+44%

Jobs based in Bowdoin, 2013 → 2023: 212 → 306. 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.