Scores by category

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

Safety72#4,380/15,637
Economy34#10,281/15,631
Housing58#6,252/14,977
Health27#11,427/15,609
Healthcare73#4,228/15,650
Environment98#291/15,453
Education74#4,140/15,649
Infrastructure70#4,765/15,650
Community79#3,224/15,651
Leisure & amenities50#7,849/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Gardiner, Maine ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Kennebec 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

High school diploma or higher · high95.1%
99/100Maine 94.8%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low5.2 µg/m³
96/100Maine 4.9 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyKennebec County value
Mental health providers · high602 /100k
93/100Maine 586 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteKennebec County value
Violent crime rate · low79 /100k
91/100Maine 93 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationKennebec County value
Hot days · low4 days
90/100Maine 2 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationKennebec County value
Median Air Quality Index · low34
88/100Maine 352025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyKennebec County value

Weaknesses

Depression · high30.4%
3/100Maine 28.4%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Drought exposure · high80%
12/100Maine 75%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAKennebec County value
New business applications · low8.8 /1k
13/100Maine 10.0 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauKennebec County value
Frequent mental distress · high20.8%
13/100Maine 20.4%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Distance to an emergency room · high10.0 mi
16/100Maine 8.6 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesKennebec County value
Job growth · low-1.6%
17/100Maine -0.5%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataKennebec County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
5,657 (2015-2019) → 6,088 (2020-2024)
+7.6%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
81.3% (2015-2019) → 94.8% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$49,627 (2015-2019) → $71,782 (2020-2024)
+45%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Child poverty rateImproving
22.9% (2015-2019) → 14.2% (2020-2024)
−8.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
New homes permittedImproving
5.2 /1k (2021) → 7.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+39%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Poverty rateImproving
17.5% (2015-2019) → 10.5% (2020-2024)
−7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

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, Gardiner, Maine improved on 4 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 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.

Improved4

Property tax−0.4 points1.71% → 1.29%
Poverty−7 points17.5% → 10.5%
Household income+45%$49,627 → $71,782
Broadband+13 points81.3% → 94.8%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Gardiner, Maine between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.2 min2015-2019	30.1 min2020-2024	+3.9 min	Within the margin of error	14%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.2%2015-2019	29.8%2020-2024	+5.6 points	Within the margin of error	71%
Broadband subscriptions	81.3%2015-2019	94.8%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	74%
Child poverty rate	22.9%2015-2019	14.2%2020-2024	−8.8 points	Within the margin of error	79%
Effective property tax rate	1.71%2015-2019	1.29%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Improved	86%
High school diploma or higher	90.6%2015-2019	95.1%2020-2024	+4.5 points	Within the margin of error	79%
Home price to income ratio	2.8×2015-2019	3.1×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	64%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4452015-2019	0.3992020-2024	−0.046	Within the margin of error	82%
Median household income	$49,6272015-2019	$71,7822020-2024	+45%	Improved	80%
Poverty rate	17.5%2015-2019	10.5%2020-2024	−7 points	Improved	87%
Rent as share of income	28.0%2015-2019	27.3%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Rent-burdened households	44.8%2015-2019	44.6%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.0%2015-2019	8.6%2020-2024	+0.6 points	Within the margin of error	39%

“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 Gardiner, Maine five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Gardiner, 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, Gardiner, Maine itself moved +10.2 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

6,088 residents (±21)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 50–59 women (−2.5 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

6,088 residents (±21)

Gardiner, Maine
Maine share

White88%5,355
Black1.5%†90
Hispanic or Latino3.3%†198

Education

4,393 residents (±283)

Gardiner, Maine
Maine share

No high school diploma4.9%†215
High school or GED35%1,538
Some college21%925

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

2,730 households (±226)

Gardiner, Maine
Maine share

Under $25k17%†457
$25k–50k20%556
$50k–75k15%†410
$75k–100k14%†389
$100k–150k20%†557
$150k–200k9.5%†259
$200k or more3.7%†102

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $150k–200k (+8.3 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,730 households (±226)

Gardiner, Maine
Maine share

Own68%1,862
Rent32%868

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

860 households (±210)

Gardiner, Maine
Maine share

Under $75023%†198
$750–1,00020%†172
$1,000–1,50041%†349

Home values

1,862 homes (±236)

Gardiner, Maine
Maine share

Under $150k23%†425
$150k–250k37%689
$250k–400k35%643

Age of homes

3,083 homes (±263)

Gardiner, Maine
Maine share

2010 or later5.3%†164
2000–20094.6%†143
1980–199911%†327

Size of homes

3,083 homes (±263)

Gardiner, Maine
Maine share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom13%†412
2 bedrooms26%807

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

3,003 workers (±362)

Gardiner, Maine
Maine share

Drive alone73%2,205
Carpool6.6%†199
Public transit1.2%†37
Walk4.0%†121
Bike0.0%0
Work from home14%†418
Other0.8%†23

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Work from home (+10.3 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

2,585 workers (±339)

Gardiner, Maine
Maine share

Under 15 min25%647
15–29 min24%631
30–44 min31%†790

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Augusta-Waterville, ME

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 Kennebec County, the county holding most of Gardiner's residents.

Kennebec County has 3,318 employer establishments, 259 for every 10,000 residents (1.04× the US rate of 248; 0.84× Maine's), with 49,617 paid employees at an average annual pay of $53,915. The Census Bureau also counts 9,507 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 3,318; 9,507 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 259; US 248 · Maine 309
Paid employees: 49,617
Average annual pay: $53,915; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	265	20.7	1.33×More than typical	1,542	$66,281	963
Ambulatory health care services	254	19.8	0.95×About typical	4,555	$70,174	435
Restaurants and other eating places	228	17.8	0.97×About typical	3,784	$24,463	34
Construction of buildings	143	11.1	1.47×More than typical	521	$51,927	465
Lessors of real estate	117	9.1	0.74×Fewer than typical	375	$49,923	962
Building equipment contractors	105	8.2	1.36×More than typical	515	$54,280	187
Services to buildings and dwellings	101	7.9	1.17×About typical	486	$47,163	583
Limited-service restaurants	90	7	0.87×About typical	1,419	$24,158	17
Automotive repair and maintenance	88	6.9	1.36×More than typical	368	$45,063	193
Full-service restaurants	87	6.8	0.88×About typical	1,804	$27,100	10
Offices of other health practitioners	74	5.8	0.95×About typical	501	$51,044	264
Landscaping services	73	5.7	1.62×More than typical	206	$64,694	227

Rank places for an industry Open Kennebec County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 128,254 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Gardiner, Maine: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

2.3KFY2017
5.3KFY2018
1.5KFY2019
8.6KFY2020
102.9KFY2021
55.2KFY2022
0FY2023
13.5KFY2024
11.5KFY2025

What was bought

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 Gardiner, Maine, so they do not add up across cities.

Gardiner, Maine's figures are part of those of Kennebec County, ME ($19.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Kennebec 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.

Gardiner, Maine is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).