Sanford, Maine

Area Profile

22,247 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Sanford, in York County.

62out of 100
Area Score
Top 38% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
OpportunityTop 31% of 4,199 cities measured66
Schools2,440th of 4,162 cities measured43
Growth2,322nd of 4,224 cities measured48
Housing affordabilityTop 38% of 4,218 cities measured71
Climate3,662nd of 4,225 cities measured60
Physical resilienceTop 27% of 4,226 cities measured78
Access3,738th of 4,226 cities measured70
Economic stabilityTop 45% of 4,226 cities measured61
The quick read

Unemployment is 2.8% and median household income $72,524, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

In the public schools here, 33% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.9 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 63 units authorized over the past twelve months, 44% below the prior year.

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
22,247
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$72,524
Top 42% nationally
Density
466/sq mi
47.8 sq mi of land
Median age
42.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Maine
Nearest major airport
MHT
48 mi · Manchester Boston Rgnl
Median home value
$280,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.8%, lower than in 96% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.7% over the past year, to 11,651 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsYork County, ME’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$84,06565th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftYork County, ME’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$69,99945th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$7,2622024 ACS 5-Year$72,524Top 42%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,9702024 ACS 5-Year$39,027Top 35%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year10.0%Top 47%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year30.2 minBottom 33%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year24.8%Top 40%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year79.1%57th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202611,651Bottom 5%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.9%Top 32%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.7%Bottom 30%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202611,9855th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year81.6%Top 37%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 ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year1.7%89th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 49%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.8%Top 4%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.8%59th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.52.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.8% 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

202120222023202473k66k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $72,524 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.

33% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 45% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.9 students for every full-time teacher across 5 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.9
across 5 of them
Math proficiency
33.1%
Top 50% in Maine
Reading proficiency
45.2%
Bottom 17% in Maine
All 6 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Sanford High SchoolSanford Public Schools1,11518.026%43%
Sanford Middle SchoolSanford Public Schools92013.7——
Carl J Lamb SchoolSanford Public Schools43611.247%51%
Margaret Chase SmithSanford Public Schools39611.0——
Sanford Pride Elementary SchoolSanford Public Schools38312.838%45%
Sanford Regional Technical CenterSanford Public Schools0———

54.6% 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 $3,708 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.32% of the median home value.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,152 a month.

A median home at $280,200 costs 3.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $81,420, 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
28.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Median gross rent
$1,152
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$280,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Sanford’s median household income of $72,524, 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 ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year3.4Bottom 25%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year71.2%40th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4082024 ACS 5-Year10,24694th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$722024 ACS 5-Year$1,152Bottom 35%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,0302024 ACS 5-Year$280,20069th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1492024 ACS 5-Year$3,70881st percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,2912024 ACS 5-Year$81,420Top 46%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year1.32%70th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year28.6%Bottom 48%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1172024 ACS 5-Year24795th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.4%72nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.6%30th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2112024 ACS 5-Year61792nd 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

48/ 100
Ranks 2,322 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 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 2% since 2020, reaching 22,497 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show York County, which contains Sanford, gained about 0.8% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $84,065, above the $69,999 of households that moved out.

At 2.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
63
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.8
Top 47% nationally
Year over year
−44%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
55.6%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202422k22k
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
+0.8%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
68%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$84,065
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$69,999
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Cumberland County, ME 2,279 people · 23% of arrivals
  2. Strafford County, NH 849 people · 8.4% of arrivals
  3. Rockingham County, NH 547 people · 5.4% of arrivals
  4. Middlesex County, MA 484 people · 4.8% of arrivals
  5. Essex County, MA 304 people · 3.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Cumberland County, ME 1,879 people · 22% of departures
  2. Strafford County, NH 718 people · 8.5% of departures
  3. Rockingham County, NH 399 people · 4.7% of departures
  4. Androscoggin County, ME 273 people · 3.2% of departures
  5. Middlesex County, MA 190 people · 2.2% 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 York County, ME. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202514760
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+27%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 41.2 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 34, 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 ROCHESTER SKYHAVEN AP, 13.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year452024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals41.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year342024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals47°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
34
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
45
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

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

78 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and coastal flooding, with inland flooding alone responsible for 46% 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 73% of measured US cities.

Ice stormElevated
HurricaneElevated
Coastal floodingHigh
EarthquakeElevated
LightningModerate
LandslideModerate
DroughtModerate

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

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
190
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,324
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.

Sanford's police department reported 190 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,324.

York County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.1 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 6.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 21.0 per 100,000 residents in York County.

Homicide
1.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
6.9
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
21.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.9
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 Sanford’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 Sanford (York County) rather than Sanford 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 Manchester Boston Rgnl at 48 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year89.9%Top 49%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle48 miBottom 13%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-Year5.9%Top 42%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Manchester Boston RgnlMHT48 mi9,250 ft
General Edward Lawrence Logan IntlBOS74 mi10,083 ft
Rhode Island TF Green IntlPVD122 mi8,700 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
62
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 Sanford
South PortlandCumberland County26,93071South Portland vs Sanford
BiddefordYork County22,49861Biddeford vs Sanford
SacoYork County20,81966
WestbrookCumberland County20,77571
BrunswickCumberland County17,65271

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 Sanford side by side with a similar place.

Sanford vs BiddefordSanford vs Weston

Moving to Sanford 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
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
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
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
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 Sanford

2 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Sanford 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 Sanford 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
0407317,414$72,917$282,900—
040834,833$72,207$272,000—