Brunswick, Maine

Area Profile

17,652 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Brunswick, in Cumberland County.

71out of 100
Area Score
Top 12% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 20% of 4,199 cities measured72
SchoolsTop 10% of 4,162 cities measured82
GrowthTop 4% of 4,224 cities measured80
Housing affordability3,504th of 4,218 cities measured46
Climate4,119th of 4,225 cities measured54
Physical resilienceTop 6% of 4,226 cities measured94
Access4,101st of 4,226 cities measured47
Economic stabilityTop 41% of 4,226 cities measured63
The quick read

Brunswick ranks in the top 20% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.5% and median household income of $70,722. The unemployment rate is published for Cumberland County, ME, which contains Brunswick, rather than for Brunswick alone.

Public schools test above most of the state: 46% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 10% of published profiles for schools.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 2,402 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 55% on the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Cumberland County, ME, which contains Brunswick, rather than for Brunswick alone.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
17,652
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$70,722
Top 45% nationally
Density
908/sq mi
19.4 sq mi of land
Median age
37.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
Nearest major airport
BGR
84 mi · Bangor Intl
Median home value
$363,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Cumberland County, ME, which contains Brunswick, is 2.5%, lower than in 99% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Cumberland County, ME, which contains Brunswick, fell 1.5% over the past year, to 176,464 employed residents.

51% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 89% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsCumberland County, ME’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$85,96069th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftCumberland County, ME’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$76,94458th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,9632024 ACS 5-Year$70,722Top 45%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,5522024 ACS 5-Year$43,256Top 26%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year8.1%Top 39%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.1 minTop 36%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year51.3%Top 11%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year57.9%11th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentCumberland County, ME’s figureJuly 2026176,464Top 35%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Cumberland County, ME’s figureJuly 2026+1.4%Top 26%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Cumberland County, ME’s figureJuly 2026−1.5%Bottom 33%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceCumberland County, ME’s figureJuly 2026180,89665th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year81.4%Top 38%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wagePortland-South Portland, ME Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$70,020Top 45%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wagePortland-South Portland, ME Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$56,960Top 28%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%79th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Cumberland County, ME’s figureJuly 2026+0.1%Bottom 39%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateCumberland County, ME’s figureJuly 20262.5%Top 1%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year18.0%82nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202471k65k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $70,722 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Portland-South Portland, ME

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons8,510$37,320
Home Health and Personal Care Aides8,150$38,580
Fast Food and Counter Workers8,040$35,300
General and Operations Managers7,160$105,390
Registered Nurses6,970$88,470
Cashiers5,610$36,210

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Cumberland County, ME, which contains this city.

46% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 66% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.2 students for every full-time teacher across 4 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
5
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.2
across 4 of them
Math proficiency
46.0%
Top 25% in Maine
Reading proficiency
65.7%
Top 17% in Maine
All 5 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Brunswick High SchoolBrunswick Public Schools72210.952%72%
Kate Furbish Elementary SchoolBrunswick Public Schools61612.1——
Brunswick Jr High SchoolBrunswick Public Schools54410.739%63%
Harriet Beecher Stowe ElementaryBrunswick Public Schools53111.345%60%
Maine Region Ten Technical High SchBrunswick-Region 100———

34.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Maine’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 4% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 104.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Portland-South Portland, ME Metro Area is up 56% over five years, and up 4.5% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $4,477 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.23% of the median home value.

The typical renter household here spends 36% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,465 a month.

A median home at $363,200 costs 4.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $84,854, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
104.4

Prices here run about 4% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Portland-South Portland, ME Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
36.4%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Median gross rent
$1,465
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$363,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Brunswick’s median household income of $70,722, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Portland-South Portland, ME Metro Area’s figure2023104.4Bottom 34%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Portland-South Portland, ME Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.5%74th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Portland-South Portland, ME Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+55.9%90th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Portland-South Portland, ME Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+124.9%92nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year4.3Bottom 14%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year66.3%31st percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3122024 ACS 5-Year7,49092nd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$1002024 ACS 5-Year$1,465Bottom 21%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,7382024 ACS 5-Year$363,20079th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2282024 ACS 5-Year$4,47787th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,1922024 ACS 5-Year$84,854Top 42%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.09%2024 ACS 5-Year1.23%65th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year36.4%Bottom 17%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±582024 ACS 5-Year6585th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%61st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.2%34th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1912024 ACS 5-Year38387th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

80/ 100
Top 4% of 4,224 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Cumberland County, which contains Brunswick, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $85,960, above the $76,944 of households that moved out.

At 7.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities. The permit rate is published for Cumberland County, ME, which contains Brunswick, rather than for Brunswick alone.

Units permitted
2,402
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
7.8
Top 17% nationally
Year over year
+55%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
59.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
62%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$85,960
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$76,944
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. York County, ME 1,879 people · 14% of arrivals
  2. Androscoggin County, ME 885 people · 6.6% of arrivals
  3. Sagadahoc County, ME 481 people · 3.6% of arrivals
  4. Middlesex County, MA 455 people · 3.4% of arrivals
  5. Kennebec County, ME 417 people · 3.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. York County, ME 2,279 people · 17% of departures
  2. Androscoggin County, ME 1,433 people · 11% of departures
  3. Sagadahoc County, ME 688 people · 5.2% of departures
  4. Kennebec County, ME 531 people · 4.0% of departures
  5. Oxford County, ME 479 people · 3.6% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Cumberland County, ME. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey lists only jurisdictions that issue their own permits, and Brunswick, ME is not one. This is the figure for Cumberland County, ME, which contains this city.

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 79°F and January a low of 12°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 50.0 inches, including 66.8 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 37, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BRUNSWICK NAS, 1.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year572024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals50.0"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals66.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals12°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals79°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year372024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals48°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
37
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
57
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

94 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and ice storm, with inland flooding alone responsible for 39% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 94% of measured US cities.

Ice stormHigh
HurricaneElevated
LightningModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Coastal floodingElevated
LandslideModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, strong wind, hail, inland flooding, cold wave, drought, wildfire, tornado, avalanche, volcanic activity, tsunami.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
48
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
643
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Brunswick's police department reported 48 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 643.

Cumberland County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.2 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 11.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 19.0 per 100,000 residents in Cumberland County.

Homicide
1.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
11.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
19.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.1
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Brunswick’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Brunswick (Cumberland County) rather than Brunswick itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Bangor Intl at 84 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year90.4%Top 47%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle84 miBottom 3%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.1%Top 43%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bangor IntlBGR84 mi11,440 ft
Manchester Boston RgnlMHT100 mi9,250 ft
General Edward Lawrence Logan IntlBOS118 mi10,083 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
71
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Other cities in Portland-South Portland, ME

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
PortlandCumberland County68,85471Portland vs Brunswick
South PortlandCumberland County26,93071South Portland vs Brunswick
BiddefordYork County22,49861Biddeford vs Brunswick
SanfordYork County22,24762
SacoYork County20,81966
WestbrookCumberland County20,77571

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Brunswick side by side with a similar place.

Brunswick vs PortlandBrunswick vs Perry

Moving to Brunswick from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Brunswick

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Brunswick with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Brunswick closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
0401122,336$74,952$376,300—