City · Waldo County, Maine

Belfast, Maine

Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine. It has 6,986 residents. Belfast, Maine has a quality-of-life score of 63 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,794 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Maine it ranks #55 of 104 cities and towns. It ranks best on violent crime rate (low), property crime rate (low) and students per teacher (low). It ranks worst on depression (high), suicide rate (high) and comfortable days (low).

63High

Quality-of-life score: #5,794 of 15,651 cities and towns
Maine: #55 of 104 in ME
Population: 6,986 (2020-2024)
Land area: 34 mi²
Density: 205.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 2303950

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety84#2,426/15,637
Economy39#9,505/15,631
Housing40#8,964/14,977
Health33#10,461/15,609
Healthcare59#6,455/15,650
Environment84#2,532/15,453
Education69#4,875/15,649
Infrastructure48#8,194/15,650
Community61#6,047/15,651
Leisure & amenities59#6,418/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Belfast, Maine ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Waldo County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Violent crime rate · low16 /100k
100/100Maine 93 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationWaldo County value
Property crime rate · low250 /100k
98/100Maine 939 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationWaldo County value
Students per teacher · low10.1×
98/100Maine 11.2×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsWaldo County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.6 µg/m³
98/100Maine 4.9 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyWaldo County value
High school diploma or higher · high92.6%
98/100Maine 94.8%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Public libraries · high3.0 /10k
96/100Maine 1.9 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesWaldo County value

Weaknesses

Depression · high30.4%
3/100Maine 28.4%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Suicide rate · high27.1 /100k
6/100Maine 18.6 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionWaldo County value
Comfortable days · low22.8%
6/100Maine 21.2%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationWaldo County value
Drought exposure · high91%
6/100Maine 75%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAWaldo County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low45.1%
8/100Maine 66.5%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWaldo County value
Drug overdose deaths · high29.5 /100k
10/100Maine 24.7 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataWaldo County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.0× (2015-2019) → 5.0× (2020-2024)
+66%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
80.8% (2015-2019) → 89.3% (2020-2024)
+8.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
14.0% (2015-2019) → 22.0% (2020-2024)
+8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Unemployment rateImproving
7.9% (2015-2019) → 0.6% (2020-2024)
−7.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
11.1% (2015-2019) → 6.3% (2020-2024)
−4.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
47.4% (2015-2019) → 42.9% (2020-2024)
−4.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Belfast, Maine improved on 2 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 8 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Property tax−0.7 points1.68% → 1.02%
Broadband+8.5 points80.8% → 89.3%

Declined2

Price / income+2.0×3.0× → 5.0×
Inequality+0.0670.425 → 0.493

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Belfast, Maine between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.6 min2015-2019	21.5 min2020-2024	+3.8 min	Within the margin of error	15%
Bachelor's degree or higher	47.4%2015-2019	42.9%2020-2024	−4.5 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Broadband subscriptions	80.8%2015-2019	89.3%2020-2024	+8.5 points	Improved	52%
Effective property tax rate	1.68%2015-2019	1.02%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Improved	96%
High school diploma or higher	94.9%2015-2019	92.6%2020-2024	−2.3 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Home price to income ratio	3.0×2015-2019	5.0×2020-2024	+2.0×	Declined	4%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4252015-2019	0.4932020-2024	+0.067	Declined	11%
Median household income	$62,8572015-2019	$67,6792020-2024	+7.7%	Within the margin of error	14%
Poverty rate	13.5%2015-2019	16.0%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Rent as share of income	28.0%2015-2019	29.4%2020-2024	+1.4 points	Within the margin of error	44%
Rent-burdened households	45.1%2015-2019	47.4%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	11.1%2015-2019	6.3%2020-2024	−4.8 points	Within the margin of error	86%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Belfast, Maine five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Belfast, Maine in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Belfast, Maine itself moved −12.4 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

6,986 residents (±17)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

3,400 households (±193)

Belfast, Maine
Maine share

Under $25k19%†648
$25k–50k18%†607
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

3,400 households (±193)

Belfast, Maine
Maine share

Own69%2,330
Rent31%1,070

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

2,560 workers (±338)

Belfast, Maine
Maine share

Drive alone76%1,958
Carpool5.4%†139
Public transit0.8%†21

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Waldo County, the county holding most of Belfast's residents.

Waldo County has 1,003 employer establishments, 248 for every 10,000 residents (1.00× the US rate of 248; 0.80× Maine's), with 9,273 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,691. The Census Bureau also counts 4,407 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,003; 4,407 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 248; US 248 · Maine 309
Paid employees: 9,273
Average annual pay: $54,691; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Waldo County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	117	28.9	1.87×More than typical	415	$62,357	576
Restaurants and other eating places	60	14.8	0.81×About typical	518	$33,052	9
Construction of buildings	45	11.1	1.47×More than typical	191	$53,157	259
Ambulatory health care services	44	10.9	0.52×Fewer than typical	320	$55,388	199
Building equipment contractors	39	9.6	1.60×More than typical	198	$62,540	99
Services to buildings and dwellings	38	9.4	1.39×More than typical	74	$55,230	376
Lessors of real estate	37	9.1	0.74×Fewer than typical	61	$48,492	344
Building finishing contractors	34	8.4	2.21×More than typical	114	$45,816	232
Landscaping services	31	7.7	2.19×More than typical	58	$58,310	176
Other specialty trade contractors	30	7.4	2.95×More than typical	62	$92,871	160
Full-service restaurants	27	6.7	0.87×About typical	297	$35,438	6
Automotive repair and maintenance	25	6.2	1.23×About typical	96	$39,719	80

Rank places for an industry Open Waldo County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 40,475 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $10.3K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Belfast, Maine: $1.47 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $10.3K; +23% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1.47; US $1,994
Sole-source: 100%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Federal Communications Commission$10.3K100%

Top recipients

DOAK GEORGE$10.3K100%

Spending by fiscal year

7.1KFY2017
42.8KFY2018
99.3KFY2019
42.9KFY2020
9.8KFY2021
8.8KFY2023
10.4KFY2024
8.4KFY2025

Top industries (NAICS)

Facilities support services · 5612$10.3K100%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Belfast, Maine, so they do not add up across cities.

Belfast, Maine's figures are part of those of Waldo County, ME ($114.7K in FY2026), never added to them: 8.9% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Belfast is mostly in Waldo County.

See federal money in Waldo County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Belfast, Maine is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Jared F. GoldenD-ME-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 70%Missed 2.8%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Waldo County73100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Waldo County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2303950

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends