Work & commute · Mount Desert

Work & commute in Mount Desert, ME

About one in 5 of Mount Desert’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Bar Harbor (32%), Ellsworth (7%) and Southwest Harbor (7%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

20%

134 of 677 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 543 Mount Desert residents head out of town to work, 134 work right here, and 609 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Mount Desert.

543live here, work elsewhere

134live and work here

609work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Mount Desert goes to work

Bar Harbor5.5 mi away

32%217

Mount Desert (in town)right here

20%134

Ellsworth18.7 mi away

7%50

Southwest Harbor5.3 mi away

7%50

Portland104.1 mi away

3%17

Bangor41 mi away

2%12

Tremont8.2 mi away

2%11

Hancock13.5 mi away

1%10

Scarborough112.7 mi away

1%9

South Portland108.7 mi away

1%8

Everywhere elseother towns and states

23%159

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

How far

How far Mount Desert commutes

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

62%

10%

20%

62%Under 10 mi

10%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

20%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Mount Desert is balanced between jobs and homes

1.10jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.10 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Mount Desert are

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

Jobs based in Mount Desert

743 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month68%

Jobs Mount Desert residents hold

677 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+11%

Jobs based in Mount Desert, 2013 → 2023: 672 → 743. 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.