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Work & commute in Lake Arrowhead · A commuter town

99% of Lake Arrowhead’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Lake Arrowhead for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Portland (13%), Waterboro (7%) and South Portland (6%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Work in town
1%
12 of 1,675 working residents
Typical commute
20 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
39 min
More than ME (25 min)
Work from home
7%
Less than ME (16%)
Jobs based here
106
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Lake Arrowhead?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

13% of working residents work in Portland

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

South Portland: 106 residents work here (6%)Westbrook: 78 residents work here (5%)Portland: 218 residents work here (13%)Saco: 80 residents work here (5%)Biddeford: 96 residents work here (6%)Sanford: 95 residents work here (6%)Kennebunk: 53 residents work here (3%)Scarborough: 83 residents work here (5%)Waterboro: 111 residents work here (7%)Old Orchard BeachParsonsfieldLimerickCornishLimingtonGorham: 41 residents work here (2%)StandishLake ArrowheadPortlandWaterboroSouth PortlandBiddefordSanfordScarboroughLake Arrowhead
1
Portland27.9 mi away
13%218
2
Waterboro4.2 mi away
7%111
3
South Portland22.9 mi away
6%106
4
Biddeford23.3 mi away
6%96
5
Sanford16.4 mi away
6%95
6
Scarborough21.3 mi away
5%83
7
Saco18.6 mi away
5%80
8
Westbrook19.7 mi away
5%78
9
Kennebunk21.8 mi away
3%53
10
Gorham14.2 mi away
2%41
Everywhere elseother towns and states
43%714
The top trips

Where Lake Arrowhead clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 39 minutes each way, longer than most of Maine

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
295 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.3 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Lake Arrowhead39 min
Maine25 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
7%

of Lake Arrowhead workers work from home, vs 16% across Maine. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
Day and night

Lake Arrowhead quiets down on a workday

On a workday 1,663 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 94 people come in from elsewhere.

1,663live here, work elsewhere
12live and work here
94work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night3,300
Workday1,800
3,300live here− 1,700head out to work+ 94come in to work= 1,800on a workday

About 1,800 people are in Lake Arrowhead on a workday afternoon, 47% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.06jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.06 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.

How far

Half of Lake Arrowhead commutes less than 20 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi35 miPortland: 13% · 27.9 miWaterboro: 7% · 4.2 miSouth Portland: 6% · 22.9 miBiddeford: 6% · 23.3 miSanford: 6% · 16.4 miScarborough: 5% · 21.3 miSaco: 5% · 18.6 miWestbrook: 5% · 19.7 miKennebunk: 3% · 21.8 miGorham: 2% · 14.2 miPortland 13%Waterboro 7%Biddeford 6%Sanford 6%Lake Arrowhead
Lake ArrowheadTop destinations (size = commuters)
14%Under 10 mi229 residents
63%10–24 mi1,055 residents
14%25–50 mi233 residents
9%Over 50 mi158 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

Lake Arrowhead makes things: 38% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in Lake ArrowheadJobs Lake Arrowhead residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms38%23%
Trade, transport & utilities21%21%
Services: health, schools, offices42%57%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less22%9%
$1,251–$3,333 a month22%25%
Over $3,333 a month57%66%

Who does it

29 or younger21%23%
30 to 5462%51%
55 and older17%26%
+77%

Jobs based in Lake Arrowhead, 2013 → 2023: 60 → 106. 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.

Next door

Lake Arrowhead and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Waterboro (7%). Darker towns draw more of Lake Arrowhead’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Limington35 min
Waterboro35 min
Limerick38 min
Lake Arrowhead39 min
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Lake Arrowhead

Lake Arrowhead home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Lake Arrowhead, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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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.

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