Penobscot County, Maine

Penobscot County population, land area and income

Penobscot County had 156,840 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 3,397.2 square miles of land. It ranks 3rd of 16 in Maine by population and 4th by land area. That works out to 46.2 people per square mile, below the US average of 96.3, and above the national county median.

The median county-equivalent in Maine has 54,142 residents, so Penobscot County is 2.9 times that size.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $65,215 is above the national county median among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Penobscot County's population changed since 2020

Penobscot County gained 4,661 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a rise of 3.1%. That ranks 8th of 16 in Maine for growth. The median Maine county changed by +3.0%, and the state as a whole by +3.0%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Penobscot County recorded 5,507 births and 8,352 deaths, a natural change of -2,845. Net international migration added +1,486 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to +5,845. The largest single component was domestic migration, which added 5,845 people.

Where Penobscot County is

The Census internal point of Penobscot County is at 45.409300, -68.666600. It sits in UTM zone 19N. The map shades Maine's 16 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Penobscot County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Penobscot County

3 incorporated places of 1,000+ people have residents in Penobscot County, 49,586 people together, or 32% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Penobscot County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Bangor with 32,446.

Counties bordering Penobscot County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 6 neighbors for Penobscot County. The most populous is Aroostook County, ME, with 66,776 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Aroostook County

  66,776 people

  90 mi N

• Hancock County

  56,946 people

  60 mi SSE

• Somerset County

  51,338 people

  63 mi W

• Waldo County

  40,617 people

  68 mi SSW

• Washington County

  31,383 people

  60 mi ESE

• Piscataquis County

  17,432 people

  41 mi NNW

Distance to Augusta and the nearest big city

Augusta is 93.7 miles SW of Penobscot County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Manchester, NH (population 116,386), 216.7 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Bangor, ME (population 32,446), 40.5 miles away.

Penobscot County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Penobscot County is 23019: state code 23 for Maine plus county code 019. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $65,215.