Franklin County vs Waldo County

A side-by-side comparison of Franklin County and Waldo County: population, income, housing, and more.

Franklin County and Waldo County are counties in Maine. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Waldo County has the higher population (40,006 vs 30,145 in Franklin County). Waldo County has the higher median household income ($68,441 vs $58,522 in Franklin County). Waldo County has the higher median home value ($239,100 vs $176,700 in Franklin County).

Population, income & housing

	Franklin County	Waldo County
Population	30,145	40,006
Median age	46.1 yrs	46.9 yrs
Median household income	$58,522	$68,441
Median home value	$176,700	$239,100
Median gross rent	$759	$969
Housing units	21,089	22,118
Homeownership rate	77.0%	80.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	29.9%	34.8%
Unemployment rate	5.3%	4.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Franklin County	Waldo County
Population	29,982 → 30,145 (+0.5%)	39,539 → 40,006 (+1.2%)
Median household income	$51,422 → $58,522 (+13.8%)	$51,931 → $68,441 (+31.8%)
Median home value	$139,800 → $176,700 (+26.4%)	$163,000 → $239,100 (+46.7%)
Median gross rent	$635 → $759 (+19.5%)	$814 → $969 (+19.0%)

Franklin County

Population

29,98230,145

Median household income

$51,422$58,522

Median home value

$139,800$176,700

Median gross rent

$635$759

Waldo County

Population

39,53940,006

Median household income

$51,931$68,441

Median home value

$163,000$239,100

Median gross rent

$814$969

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Franklin County	Waldo County
Under 5	4.1%	4.4%
5 to 17	13.1%	13.6%
18 to 24	10.7%	7.1%
25 to 34	10.9%	10.4%
35 to 44	10.5%	12.0%
45 to 54	11.2%	12.5%
55 to 64	16.5%	15.5%
65 to 74	14.1%	15.6%
75 and over	9.0%	8.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Franklin County	Waldo County
White (non-Hispanic)	94.0%	93.0%
Black or African American	0.6%	0.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.2%
Asian	0.5%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.8%
Two or more races	2.7%	3.6%
Hispanic or Latino	1.6%	1.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Franklin County	Waldo County
No high school diploma	6.2%	6.3%
High school graduate	35.5%	31.6%
Some college or associate's	28.4%	27.3%
Bachelor's degree	19.7%	20.0%
Graduate or professional degree	10.2%	14.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Franklin County	Waldo County
Drove alone	72.7%	72.2%
Carpooled	8.6%	7.4%
Public transit	0.0%	0.6%
Walked	4.7%	3.6%
Bicycle	0.4%	0.1%
Worked from home	11.5%	15.1%
Other means	2.1%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Franklin County	Waldo County
1-unit, detached	75.3%	75.2%
1-unit, attached	2.2%	2.5%
2 to 4 units	5.2%	5.3%
5 to 19 units	5.8%	2.9%
20 or more units	2.1%	1.3%
Mobile home & other	9.4%	12.9%

Poverty & households

	Franklin County	Waldo County
Poverty rate	11.8%	12.8%
Average household size	2.32	2.25
Mean commute (minutes)	27	26
Median year structure built	1978	1983