Ellsworth vs Southwest Harbor

A side-by-side comparison of Ellsworth and Southwest Harbor: population, income, housing, and more.

Ellsworth and Southwest Harbor are places in Maine. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Ellsworth has the higher population (8,550 vs 563 in Southwest Harbor). Ellsworth has the higher median household income ($70,990 vs $31,518 in Southwest Harbor). Southwest Harbor has the higher median home value ($407,700 vs $214,500 in Ellsworth).

Population, income & housing

	Ellsworth	Southwest Harbor
Population	8,550	563
Median age	40.9 yrs	58.1 yrs
Median household income	$70,990	$31,518
Median home value	$214,500	$407,700
Median gross rent	$955	$903
Housing units	4,964	644
Homeownership rate	68.6%	26.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	41.1%	27.9%
Unemployment rate	1.8%	21.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ellsworth	Southwest Harbor
Population	7,991 → 8,550 (+7.0%)	647 → 563 (-13.0%)
Median household income	$53,324 → $70,990 (+33.1%)	$41,646 → $31,518 (-24.3%)
Median home value	$178,400 → $214,500 (+20.2%)	$327,500 → $407,700 (+24.5%)
Median gross rent	$787 → $955 (+21.3%)	$413 → $903 (+118.6%)

Ellsworth

Population

7,9918,550

Median household income

$53,324$70,990

Median home value

$178,400$214,500

Median gross rent

$787$955

Southwest Harbor

Population

647563

Median household income

$41,646$31,518

Median home value

$327,500$407,700

Median gross rent

$413$903

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ellsworth	Southwest Harbor
Under 5	4.6%	4.8%
5 to 17	18.0%	13.9%
18 to 24	3.2%	1.2%
25 to 34	14.5%	13.5%
35 to 44	15.1%	8.2%
45 to 54	11.7%	6.6%
55 to 64	13.9%	11.4%
65 to 74	11.5%	17.2%
75 and over	7.6%	23.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ellsworth	Southwest Harbor
White (non-Hispanic)	91.1%	97.0%
Black or African American	1.2%	2.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.3%	0.0%
Asian	1.5%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	1.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.8%	0.7%
Hispanic or Latino	0.9%	0.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ellsworth	Southwest Harbor
No high school diploma	4.2%	1.6%
High school graduate	26.5%	29.5%
Some college or associate's	28.2%	41.0%
Bachelor's degree	30.3%	19.1%
Graduate or professional degree	10.8%	8.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ellsworth	Southwest Harbor
Drove alone	73.1%	84.3%
Carpooled	12.6%	0.0%
Public transit	1.1%	0.0%
Walked	6.4%	7.5%
Bicycle	0.0%	4.5%
Worked from home	5.0%	3.7%
Other means	1.7%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ellsworth	Southwest Harbor
1-unit, detached	65.6%	54.0%
1-unit, attached	2.5%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	8.6%	16.8%
5 to 19 units	11.3%	14.3%
20 or more units	5.5%	14.9%
Mobile home & other	6.5%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Ellsworth	Southwest Harbor
Poverty rate	8.5%	12.8%
Average household size	2.33	1.69
Mean commute (minutes)	23	9
Median year structure built	1978	1972