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Work & commute in Northeast Harbor · A job hub

Every workday, about 410 people come to Northeast Harbor for work

Most working residents leave Northeast Harbor for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Bar Harbor (30%), Mount Desert (22%) and Ellsworth (7%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Work in town
13%
15 of 114 working residents
Typical commute
8 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
11 min
Less than ME (25 min)
Work from home
40%
More than ME (16%)
Jobs based here
425
A job hub

What kind of work town is Northeast Harbor?

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

★ What stands out · Day and night

Northeast Harbor nearly doubles on a workday

On a workday 99 residents head out to work, 15 work right here, and 410 people come in from elsewhere.

99live here, work elsewhere
15live and work here
410work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night420
Workday730
420live here− 99head out to work+ 410come in to work= 730on a workday

About 730 people are in Northeast Harbor on a workday afternoon, 74% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
3.73jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

3.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.

Time on the road

About 11 minutes each way, quicker than most of Maine

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

A year of commuting
81 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.4 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Northeast Harbor11 min
Maine25 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
40%

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

About 4 in 10
The jobs

66% of the jobs in Northeast Harbor pay over $3,333 a month

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

Jobs based in Northeast HarborJobs Northeast Harbor residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms16%12%
Trade, transport & utilities9%18%
Services: health, schools, offices75%69%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less14%19%
$1,251–$3,333 a month21%21%
Over $3,333 a month66%60%

Who does it

29 or younger20%25%
30 to 5447%41%
55 and older33%33%
+47%

Jobs based in Northeast Harbor, 2013 → 2023: 290 → 425. 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

25% of Northeast Harbor works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Mount Desert (22%). Darker towns draw more of Northeast Harbor’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Northeast Harbor11 min
Southwest Harbor16 min
Mount Desert18 min
Cranberry Isles20 min
The commute map

Where Northeast Harbor’s workers come from

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

South PortlandPortlandOld TownAugustaEllsworth: 49 workers live here (12%)Hancock: 24 workers live here (6%)Bar Harbor: 71 workers live here (17%)Southwest Harbor: 22 workers live here (5%)Franklin: 8 workers live here (2%)Lamoine: 12 workers live here (3%)Tremont: 13 workers live here (3%)Trenton: 18 workers live here (4%)Blue Hill: 7 workers live here (2%)Mount Desert: 74 workers live here (17%)Cranberry IslesNortheast HarborMount DesertBar HarborEllsworthHancockSouthwest HarborTrentonNortheast Harbor
1
Mount Desert3.6 mi away
17%74
2
Bar Harbor7.5 mi away
17%71
3
Ellsworth22.3 mi away
12%49
4
Hancock16.3 mi away
6%24
5
Southwest Harbor2.5 mi away
5%22
6
Trenton13.1 mi away
4%18
7
Tremont8.6 mi away
3%13
8
Lamoine14 mi away
3%12
9
Franklin21.6 mi away
2%8
10
Blue Hill14 mi away
2%7
Everywhere elseother towns and states
30%127
The top trips

Where Northeast Harbor clocks in

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

How far

Half of Northeast Harbor commutes less than 8 miles

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

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miBar Harbor: 30% · 7.5 miMount Desert: 22% · 3.6 miEllsworth: 7% · 22.3 miSouth Portland: 4% · 109.2 miPortland: 3% · 104.6 miSouthwest Harbor: 3% · 2.5 miTremont: 3% · 8.6 miOld Town: 2% · 50.9 miAugusta: 2% · 71.4 miHancock: 2% · 16.3 miBar Harbor 30%Mount Desert 22%Ellsworth 7%South Portland 4%Northeast Harbor
Northeast HarborTop destinations (size = commuters)
57%Under 10 mi65 residents
10%10–24 mi11 residents
6%25–50 mi7 residents
27%Over 50 mi31 residents

About 27% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

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

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 Northeast Harbor

Northeast Harbor home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Northeast Harbor, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Northeast Harbor worth it?

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Ask neighbors

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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