Work & commute · Oakland

Work & commute in Oakland, ME

Most working residents leave Oakland for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are Waterville (21%), Augusta (16%) and Winslow (4%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

14%

424 of 3,098 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 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 2,674 Oakland residents head out of town to work, 424 work right here, and 2,313 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oakland.

2,674live here, work elsewhere

424live and work here

2,313work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oakland goes to work

Waterville4.2 mi away

21%663

Augusta16.9 mi away

16%488

Oakland (in town)right here

14%424

Winslow8.6 mi away

4%121

Skowhegan13 mi away

4%115

Portland69.1 mi away

3%92

Fairfield6.1 mi away

3%88

Lewiston40.2 mi away

2%67

Auburn42.7 mi away

2%52

Belgrade6.4 mi away

2%49

Everywhere elseother towns and states

30%939

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

How far

How far Oakland commutes

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

45%

28%

12%

14%

45%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oakland is balanced between jobs and homes

0.88jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.88 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Oakland are

2,737 jobs are based in Oakland. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oakland’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Oakland

2,737 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Oakland residents hold

3,098 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+30%

Jobs based in Oakland, 2013 → 2023: 2,100 → 2,737. 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.