Saco vs Sanford

A side-by-side comparison of Saco and Sanford: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Sanford has the higher population (22,095 vs 20,636 in Saco). Saco has the higher median household income ($84,328 vs $70,570 in Sanford). Saco has the higher median home value ($370,300 vs $257,200 in Sanford).

Population, income & housing

	Saco	Sanford
Population	20,636	22,095
Median age	43.7 yrs	40.4 yrs
Median household income	$84,328	$70,570
Median home value	$370,300	$257,200
Median gross rent	$1,268	$1,158
Housing units	9,619	9,974
Homeownership rate	69.9%	69.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	40.5%	23.6%
Unemployment rate	1.7%	3.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Saco	Sanford
Population	19,497 → 20,636 (+5.8%)	21,073 → 22,095 (+4.8%)
Median household income	$70,517 → $84,328 (+19.6%)	$52,513 → $70,570 (+34.4%)
Median home value	$258,900 → $370,300 (+43.0%)	$183,800 → $257,200 (+39.9%)
Median gross rent	$1,173 → $1,268 (+8.1%)	$901 → $1,158 (+28.5%)

Saco

Population

19,49720,636

Median household income

$70,517$84,328

Median home value

$258,900$370,300

Median gross rent

$1,173$1,268

Sanford

Population

21,07322,095

Median household income

$52,513$70,570

Median home value

$183,800$257,200

Median gross rent

$901$1,158

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Saco	Sanford
Under 5	4.4%	5.3%
5 to 17	12.6%	16.5%
18 to 24	7.6%	4.4%
25 to 34	15.4%	15.6%
35 to 44	11.7%	12.5%
45 to 54	15.7%	11.3%
55 to 64	14.5%	15.2%
65 to 74	11.9%	11.5%
75 and over	6.2%	7.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Saco	Sanford
White (non-Hispanic)	85.4%	88.1%
Black or African American	2.9%	1.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	1.3%	2.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	1.1%	0.2%
Two or more races	5.5%	5.2%
Hispanic or Latino	3.9%	2.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Saco	Sanford
No high school diploma	4.2%	9.4%
High school graduate	27.2%	37.1%
Some college or associate's	28.2%	29.9%
Bachelor's degree	25.1%	16.4%
Graduate or professional degree	15.4%	7.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Saco	Sanford
Drove alone	72.7%	79.3%
Carpooled	7.9%	8.2%
Public transit	0.8%	1.4%
Walked	1.5%	0.8%
Bicycle	0.8%	0.0%
Worked from home	15.7%	9.3%
Other means	0.7%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Saco	Sanford
1-unit, detached	55.7%	62.2%
1-unit, attached	6.6%	3.4%
2 to 4 units	18.2%	17.4%
5 to 19 units	7.7%	7.7%
20 or more units	8.1%	4.2%
Mobile home & other	3.7%	5.1%

Poverty & households

	Saco	Sanford
Poverty rate	6.8%	10.6%
Average household size	2.30	2.33
Mean commute (minutes)	25	27
Median year structure built	1980	1973