Cumberland County, ME

County Profile

308,827 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Cumberland County, ME.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

75out of 100
Area Score
Top 5% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 10% of 1,463 counties measured79
GrowthTop 4% of 1,453 counties measured80
Housing affordability1,198th of 1,462 counties measured62
Climate1,289th of 1,463 counties measured56
Physical resilienceTop 3% of 1,463 counties measured94
Access1,365th of 1,463 counties measured45
Economic stabilityTop 5% of 1,463 counties measured93
The quick read

Cumberland County ranks in the top 10% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.5% and median household income of $95,677.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 2,402 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 55% on the prior year.

Rent takes 30% of renter income here, at or above the threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, while buying strains owner incomes less — the median home is 3.9 times what its owners earn, against a historic benchmark near three.

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
308,827
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$95,677
Top 7% nationally
Density
369/sq mi
836.2 sq mi of land
Median age
42.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Cumberland County
Maine
Nearest major airport
MHT
82 mi · Manchester Boston Rgnl
Median home value
$451,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.5%, lower than in 97% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.5% over the past year, to 176,464 employed residents.

53% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 98% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $95,677 is higher than in 93% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$85,96087th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$76,94485th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,8832024 ACS 5-Year$95,677Top 7%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1112024 ACS 5-Year$55,739Top 4%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$85,544Top 7%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year7.1%Top 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.8 minTop 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year53.0%Top 2%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year63.7%5th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026176,464Top 14%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.4%Top 33%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.5%Bottom 31%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026180,89686th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year84.4%Top 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%84th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Bottom 33%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.5%Top 3%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year21.8%97th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.81.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.5% in July 2026. It has been rising, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202496k81k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $95,677 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.

44% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 63% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.3 students for every full-time teacher across 88 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
94
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.3
across 88 of them
Math proficiency
44.4%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
63.5%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest of 94 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Bonny Eagle High SchoolRSU 06/MSAD 061,02712.522%49%
Windham High SchoolRSU 1493912.227%52%
South Portland High SchoolSouth Portland Public Schools92811.639%64%
Portland High SchoolPortland Public Schools91214.537%57%
Scarborough High SchoolScarborough Public Schools90311.057%73%
Falmouth Elementary SchoolFalmouth Public Schools87111.268%76%
Deering High SchoolPortland Public Schools85012.528%47%
Gorham High SchoolGorham Public Schools81213.142%72%
South Portland Middle SchoolSouth Portland Public Schools8079.3——
Mabel I Wilson SchoolRSU 51/MSAD 5173012.462%62%
Windham Primary SchoolRSU 1472713.042%52%
Brunswick High SchoolBrunswick Public Schools72210.952%72%

33.8% 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 $4,707 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.04% of the median home value.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,589 a month.

A median home at $451,200 costs 3.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $115,022, 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
30.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Median gross rent
$1,589
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$451,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Cumberland County’s median household income of $95,677, 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 13%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Portland-South Portland, ME Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.5%69th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Portland-South Portland, ME Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+55.9%87th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Portland-South Portland, ME Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+124.9%93rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year3.9Bottom 12%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year69.8%28th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1372024 ACS 5-Year153,28694th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$362024 ACS 5-Year$1,589Bottom 6%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,7982024 ACS 5-Year$451,20094th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$612024 ACS 5-Year$4,70796th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,5722024 ACS 5-Year$115,022Top 7%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year1.04%68th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year30.0%Bottom 28%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±7962024 ACS 5-Year15,78699th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year10.3%81st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.5%4th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±9542024 ACS 5-Year21,11897th percentileof 3,2222024 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 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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.

Population has grown 3% since 2020, reaching 313,809 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 1,761 units authorized in 2025, up 25% on the prior year.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Cumberland County 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 counties.

Units permitted
2,402
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
7.8
Top 13% nationally
Year over year
+55%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
59.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024314k304k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

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. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420252k1k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−9%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 80°F and January a low of 16°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 48.1 inches, including 68.7 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 PORTLAND INTL JETPORT, 11.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year572024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals48.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals68.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals16°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals80°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 Normals46°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 97% of measured US counties.

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). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

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.

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 Cumberland County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read 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.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
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

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Manchester Boston Rgnl at 82 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year92.7%Top 10%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle82 miBottom 8%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year4.8%Top 10%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Manchester Boston RgnlMHT82 mi9,250 ft
Bangor IntlBGR101 mi11,440 ft
General Edward Lawrence Logan IntlBOS106 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.

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75
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
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
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
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
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
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 areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.