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Acton, ME

This is a small community in a single neighborhood. As throughout the site, some neighborhood-level data are reserved for subscribers.





Overview


Acton is a very small town located in the state of Maine. With a population of 2,715 people and just one neighborhood, Acton is the 175th largest community in Maine.

Occupations and Workforce

Acton is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Acton is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Acton who work in office and administrative support (14.18%), management occupations (12.84%), and business and financial occupations (6.88%).

Of important note, Acton is also a town of artists. Acton has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Acton’s character.

Also of interest is that Acton has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

A relatively large number of people in Acton telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 18.77% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Setting & Lifestyle

Another notable thing is that Acton is a major vacation destination. Much of the town’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Acton’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.

Because of many things, Acton is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Acton really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Acton perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.

It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Acton has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Acton has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Acton than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Acton may be for you.

In Acton, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 37.38 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.

Demographics

The percentage of people in Acton who are college-educated is somewhat higher than the average US community of 21.84%: 28.79% of adults in Acton have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Acton in 2022 was $38,087, which is upper middle income relative to Maine and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $152,348 for a family of four. However, Acton contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Acton home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Acton residents report their race to be White. Important ancestries of people in Acton include French, English, Irish, German, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Acton is English. Other important languages spoken here include French and German/Yiddish.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.

People

Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.

In addition, if you're looking for a great spot to raise a family, then look no further than the neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that the combination of good quality public schools, above-average safety from crime, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family homes, help make this neighborhood among the top 11.8% of family-friendly neighborhoods across the state of Maine. In addition, there are a high proportion of other families with school-aged children living here, making it easy for parents and their children to socialize and develop a sense of community support. In addition, families here highly value education, as is reflected by the strength of the local schools, in part due to the educational attainment of the parents here, who vote in support of the public schools.

Real Estate

Owner-occupied real estate dominates the neighborhood. In fact, according to NeighborhoodScout research, the percentage of residential real estate occupied by its owner is higher here than in 96.4% of neighborhoods in America. Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 50.1% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 98.7% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.

In addition, one of the notable things about is that it is one of the quietest neighborhoods in America, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and quantitative rating of quietness. When you are here, you will find it to be very quiet. If quiet and peaceful are your cup of tea, you may have found a great place for you.

Diversity

Did you know that the neighborhood has more Canadian and French ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Canadian ancestry and 15.3% have French ancestry.

The Neighbors

How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.

The neighbors in the neighborhood in Acton are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 55.1% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.

A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.

In the neighborhood, 42.2% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 28.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (15.1%), and 14.1% in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 97.8% of households.

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.

In the neighborhood in Acton, ME, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as French (15.3%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (13.8%), and residents who report Irish roots (11.7%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (8.4%), along with some French Canadian ancestry residents (7.4%), among others.

Getting to Work

How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (30.0% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.

Here most residents (77.4%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (5.3%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.


Real Estate includes:
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Neighborhood Setting
Economics & Demographics include:
Lifestyle & Special Character
Household Types
Commute To Work
Migration & Mobility
Race & Ethnic Diversity
Employment Industries & Occupations
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Higher Education Attainment
Crime includes:
Neighborhood Crime Index
Crimes Per Square Mile
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Schools include:
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