Work & commute · Scarborough

Work & commute in Scarborough, ME

Most working residents leave Scarborough for work: only 19% work in town. The top destinations are Portland (28%), South Portland (11%) and Westbrook (7%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19%

1,904 of 10,272 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

25%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 8,368 Scarborough residents head out of town to work, 1,904 work right here, and 15,056 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Scarborough.

8,368live here, work elsewhere

1,904live and work here

15,056work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Scarborough goes to work

Portland8.6 mi away

28%2,895

Scarborough (in town)right here

19%1,904

South Portland4.8 mi away

11%1,125

Westbrook9.5 mi away

7%730

Biddeford9.6 mi away

3%326

Saco5.2 mi away

3%271

Falmouth12 mi away

2%228

Gorham11.1 mi away

2%178

Augusta60.6 mi away

2%158

Lewiston36.7 mi away

1%139

Everywhere elseother towns and states

23%2,318

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

How far

How far Scarborough commutes

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

71%

13%

71%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Scarborough is a job hub

1.65jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Scarborough are

16,960 jobs are based in Scarborough. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Scarborough’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Scarborough

16,960 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Scarborough residents hold

10,272 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month69%

+26%

Jobs based in Scarborough, 2013 → 2023: 13,470 → 16,960. 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.