Penobscot County vs York County

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

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

York County has the higher population (214,731 vs 153,571 in Penobscot County). York County has the higher median household income ($82,904 vs $63,248 in Penobscot County). York County has the higher median home value ($357,200 vs $193,800 in Penobscot County).

Population, income & housing

	Penobscot County	York County
Population	153,571	214,731
Median age	42.5 yrs	45.3 yrs
Median household income	$63,248	$82,904
Median home value	$193,800	$357,200
Median gross rent	$997	$1,239
Housing units	75,405	113,853
Homeownership rate	70.3%	76.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.5%	34.6%
Unemployment rate	4.1%	3.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Penobscot County	York County
Population	151,774 → 153,571 (+1.2%)	204,316 → 214,731 (+5.1%)
Median household income	$50,808 → $63,248 (+24.5%)	$67,830 → $82,904 (+22.2%)
Median home value	$144,700 → $193,800 (+33.9%)	$252,300 → $357,200 (+41.6%)
Median gross rent	$799 → $997 (+24.8%)	$983 → $1,239 (+26.0%)

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

York County

Population

204,316214,731

Median household income

$67,830$82,904

Median home value

$252,300$357,200

Median gross rent

$983$1,239

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Penobscot County	York County
Under 5	4.4%	4.5%
5 to 17	13.5%	13.6%
18 to 24	10.0%	7.0%
25 to 34	12.7%	12.6%
35 to 44	12.1%	12.0%
45 to 54	12.5%	12.7%
55 to 64	15.0%	15.9%
65 to 74	12.0%	13.3%
75 and over	7.7%	8.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Penobscot County	York County
White (non-Hispanic)	91.4%	90.8%
Black or African American	1.0%	1.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.8%	0.1%
Asian	1.1%	1.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.6%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.2%	4.5%
Hispanic or Latino	1.9%	2.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Penobscot County	York County
No high school diploma	5.5%	4.9%
High school graduate	32.4%	29.8%
Some college or associate's	31.6%	30.7%
Bachelor's degree	18.9%	22.0%
Graduate or professional degree	11.6%	12.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Penobscot County	York County
Drove alone	75.9%	73.2%
Carpooled	7.8%	8.1%
Public transit	0.5%	0.6%
Walked	3.6%	2.2%
Bicycle	0.4%	0.3%
Worked from home	10.6%	14.8%
Other means	1.2%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Penobscot County	York County
1-unit, detached	64.4%	70.0%
1-unit, attached	1.9%	3.8%
2 to 4 units	12.6%	12.0%
5 to 19 units	6.5%	4.8%
20 or more units	3.0%	3.4%
Mobile home & other	11.6%	6.0%

Poverty & households

	Penobscot County	York County
Poverty rate	13.5%	7.8%
Average household size	2.26	2.34
Mean commute (minutes)	23	27
Median year structure built	1977	1979