county

Penobscot County, ME

Demographic and economic profile of Penobscot County, ME, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Penobscot County has a population of 156,840 and serves as a regional hub in central Maine, with a GDP per capita of $47,557 against median worker earnings of $38,453 and a median household income of $66,356. The labor force participation rate is 60.0%, unemployment sits at 4.1%, and 30.5% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher, with 94.5% holding at least a high school diploma. Housing costs remain low, with a median home value of $193,800 and median gross rent of $997 per month, and the county posted modest population growth of 1.2% over five years against a median age of 42.5.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

156,840

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$66,356

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

42.5 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+1.2% since 2018

Penobscot County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone141,988 (91.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races3,710 (2.4%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race2,773 (1.8%)
  • Black or African American Alone1,803 (1.2%)
  • Asian Alone1,696 (1.1%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone1,330 (0.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)1,752
  2. 2.Spanish1,277
  3. 3.Other Indo-European689
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)415
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic344

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

17.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

62.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

3.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

9,808

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$47,557

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$36,736

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

13.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance26,131
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)10,693
  3. 3.Construction (Group)6,046
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services5,684
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services5,355

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations29,892
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations16,137
  3. 3.Service Occupations13,661
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations8,387
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations7,265

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.46×)25,422
  2. 2.Retail Trade (LQ 1.30×)10,584
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.22×)6,283
  4. 4.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.11×)1,324
  5. 5.Public Administration (LQ 1.08×)3,797

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$193,800

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$997/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

70.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9996,975 (15.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9996,716 (14.6%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9994,735 (10.3%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9994,164 (9.1%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9993,712 (8.1%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9992,960 (6.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

30.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

94.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

60.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$38,453

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

22.7 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

7.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone55,670 (75.6%)
  • Worked At Home8,330 (11.3%)
  • Carpooled5,360 (7.3%)
  • Walked2,743 (3.7%)
  • Other749 (1.0%)
  • Bicycle329 (0.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

5 counties with comparable population, workforce, income, education, and cost of living. Click any to compare.

More on FDI Connect

Compare Penobscot County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

Open full dashboardCreate free account

Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.