Oxford County vs Penobscot County

A side-by-side comparison of Oxford County and Penobscot County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Penobscot County has the higher population (153,571 vs 58,728 in Oxford County). Penobscot County has the higher median household income ($63,248 vs $57,933 in Oxford County). Penobscot County has the higher median home value ($193,800 vs $192,300 in Oxford County).

Population, income & housing

	Oxford County	Penobscot County
Population	58,728	153,571
Median age	48.3 yrs	42.5 yrs
Median household income	$57,933	$63,248
Median home value	$192,300	$193,800
Median gross rent	$807	$997
Housing units	36,558	75,405
Homeownership rate	80.8%	70.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.5%	30.5%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	4.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Oxford County	Penobscot County
Population	57,550 → 58,728 (+2.0%)	151,774 → 153,571 (+1.2%)
Median household income	$49,204 → $57,933 (+17.7%)	$50,808 → $63,248 (+24.5%)
Median home value	$144,100 → $192,300 (+33.4%)	$144,700 → $193,800 (+33.9%)
Median gross rent	$713 → $807 (+13.2%)	$799 → $997 (+24.8%)

Oxford County

Population

57,55058,728

Median household income

$49,204$57,933

Median home value

$144,100$192,300

Median gross rent

$713$807

Penobscot County

Population

151,774153,571

Median household income

$50,808$63,248

Median home value

$144,700$193,800

Median gross rent

$799$997

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Oxford County	Penobscot County
Under 5	4.1%	4.4%
5 to 17	13.7%	13.5%
18 to 24	6.1%	10.0%
25 to 34	10.9%	12.7%
35 to 44	11.7%	12.1%
45 to 54	12.6%	12.5%
55 to 64	17.5%	15.0%
65 to 74	14.4%	12.0%
75 and over	9.0%	7.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Oxford County	Penobscot County
White (non-Hispanic)	92.8%	91.4%
Black or African American	0.3%	1.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.8%
Asian	0.5%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.6%
Two or more races	4.2%	3.2%
Hispanic or Latino	1.6%	1.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Oxford County	Penobscot County
No high school diploma	7.4%	5.5%
High school graduate	41.2%	32.4%
Some college or associate's	28.9%	31.6%
Bachelor's degree	14.7%	18.9%
Graduate or professional degree	7.8%	11.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Oxford County	Penobscot County
Drove alone	77.1%	75.9%
Carpooled	8.1%	7.8%
Public transit	0.0%	0.5%
Walked	2.6%	3.6%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.4%
Worked from home	11.3%	10.6%
Other means	0.8%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Oxford County	Penobscot County
1-unit, detached	74.8%	64.4%
1-unit, attached	1.2%	1.9%
2 to 4 units	6.7%	12.6%
5 to 19 units	2.6%	6.5%
20 or more units	3.6%	3.0%
Mobile home & other	11.1%	11.6%

Poverty & households

	Oxford County	Penobscot County
Poverty rate	14.2%	13.5%
Average household size	2.44	2.26
Mean commute (minutes)	29	23
Median year structure built	1976	1977