The county economy from official statistics, with source and year on every table.
Click any dot to open that city: jobs, pay, rent, commute, county economy and climate. Dot size follows population; colours follow the state flag.
By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Penobscot County is a county of Maine with 154,710 residents. Its economy produced $9,643 million in 2024 (ranked #3 of 16 counties) and had 71,983 jobs with an average annual pay of $55,593 (#7 for pay). The unemployment rate was 3.4% in 2026M09. It is part of the Bangor, ME metropolitan area (central county).
Penobscot County produced about $9,643 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 9.7% of the combined output of the 16 counties of Maine that BEA reports (about 11.1% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 3rd of 16 on that measure. Per resident that is $62,333, 13% below the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $71,460. In current dollars output grew 5.7% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 71,983 jobs located in Penobscot County on average in 2024, spread over 5,259 employer sites (about 14 jobs per site). That is 0.47 jobs for every resident, above the 0.39 of the typical county in Maine, which tells you whether the county is a place people mostly commute to for work or a place they commute from. The average annual pay per job was $55,593, 10% below the average of all counties in the state ($55,593 against $61,512). Average pay is total wages divided by jobs, so it is pulled up by high earners and counts part-time jobs as whole jobs; it is not the pay of a typical worker. The number of jobs rose 2.2% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are health care and social assistance (26.7% of private jobs, $65,036 a year on average), retail trade (18.1% of private jobs, $38,540 a year on average), accommodation and food services (10.7% of private jobs, $27,776 a year on average). Together they hold 55.5% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is management of companies at $93,616 a year, followed by professional and technical services ($80,099). The county is specialised in several industries: management of companies (1.6 times the US share, 1,893 jobs); health care and social assistance (1.5 times the US share, 15,681 jobs); retail trade (1.5 times the US share, 10,657 jobs). A location quotient above 1 means an industry employs a larger share of workers here than in the whole country, so these are the industries where local employers compete hardest for skills. Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: retail trade ($38,540), accommodation and food services ($27,776). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Penobscot County was 3.4%, 9% above the average of the state's counties (3.4% against 3.1%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 74,881. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 2.9% (2026M06) to 4.1% (2026M01); the latest month is preliminary and BLS revises it. These county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years.
The median household income was $66,356 (ACS 2020–2024), 11% below the state median ($66,356 against $74,733). The guide covers 6 cities with this as the main county: Bangor, Orono, Brewer, Old Town, Hampden, Millinocket. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $451 in Millinocket to $1,280 in Orono, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Penobscot County in output are Cumberland County, York County, Kennebec County, Androscoggin County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 16 counties of Maine ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 154,710 | 3 of 16 |
| GDP 2024 | $9,643 million | 3 of 16 |
| GDP per resident | $62,333 | 7 of 16 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 71,983 | 3 of 16 |
| Average annual pay | $55,593 | 7 of 16 |
| Job change vs 2023 | +2.2% | 2 of 16 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 3.4% | 9 of 16 |
| Median household income | $66,356 | 10 of 16 |
Federal jobs in Maine (185) →All cities of MaineState guide: Maine
These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.
Cities of this guide whose main county is Penobscot County.
| City ⇅ | Population ⇅ | Median household income ⇅ | Median rent ⇅ | Median home value ⇅ | Bachelor's+ ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangor | 31,938 | $59,942 | $1,055 | $219,600 | 35.1% |
| Orono | 11,151 | $59,784 | $1,280 | $262,900 | 69.8% |
| Brewer | 9,652 | $66,613 | $1,086 | $245,300 | 35.0% |
| Old Town | 7,470 | $51,585 | $989 | $208,100 | 36.8% |
| Hampden | 5,161 | $112,228 | $1,133 | $285,900 | 47.9% |
| Millinocket | 3,779 | $50,445 | $451 | $99,800 | 19.4% |
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 15,681 | 26.7% | $65,036 | 1.52 |
| Retail trade | 10,657 | 18.1% | $38,540 | 1.48 |
| Accommodation and food services | 6,263 | 10.7% | $27,776 | 0.96 |
| Construction | 3,921 | 6.7% | $70,658 | 1.04 |
| Manufacturing | 2,830 | 4.8% | $60,968 | 0.48 |
| Administrative and waste services | 2,745 | 4.7% | $39,076 | 0.65 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 2,682 | 4.6% | $54,324 | 0.88 |
| Wholesale trade | 2,284 | 3.9% | $71,187 | 0.81 |
| Professional and technical services | 2,253 | 3.8% | $80,099 | 0.45 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 1,906 | 3.2% | $40,960 | 0.88 |
| Management of companies | 1,893 | 3.2% | $93,616 | 1.56 |
| Finance and insurance | 1,448 | 2.5% | $83,217 | 0.50 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 1,146 | 2.0% | $22,028 | 0.95 |
| Educational services | 1,100 | 1.9% | $45,837 | 0.74 |
| Real estate and rental | 782 | 1.3% | $51,989 | 0.70 |
| Information | 754 | 1.3% | $67,439 | 0.56 |
| Utilities | 386 | 0.7% | $118,429 | 1.41 |
A location quotient above 1 means the industry is more concentrated here than in the US. BLS withholds sectors with too few employers.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Labour force | 74,881 |
| Employed residents | 72,355 |
| Unemployed residents | 2,526 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.4% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 71,983 |
| Employer sites | 5,259 |
Residents employed and jobs located here differ: many residents commute to other counties.
| County ⇅ | Population ⇅ | GDP 2024 ⇅ | GDP per resident ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Unemployment ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland County | 308,827 | $34,616 million | $112,089 | 192,475 | $71,351 | 2.7% |
| York County | 216,731 | $13,650 million | $62,981 | 79,378 | $61,811 | 2.8% |
| Penobscot County | 154,710 | $9,643 million | $62,333 | 71,983 | $55,593 | 3.4% |
| Kennebec County | 126,808 | $8,569 million | $67,576 | 62,487 | $60,846 | 3.2% |
| Androscoggin County | 113,423 | $7,050 million | $62,156 | 48,676 | $58,507 | 3.3% |
| Aroostook County | 67,058 | $3,670 million | $54,728 | 25,999 | $51,148 | 4.0% |
| Oxford County | 59,255 | $2,577 million | $43,484 | 17,009 | $50,809 | 3.7% |
| Hancock County | 56,460 | $3,681 million | $65,200 | 23,631 | $53,780 | 2.8% |
| Somerset County | 50,959 | $2,439 million | $47,861 | 16,034 | $55,148 | 4.1% |
| Knox County | 41,003 | $2,633 million | $64,206 | 16,874 | $55,720 | 3.2% |
| Waldo County | 40,192 | $1,998 million | $49,716 | 11,273 | $54,674 | 3.4% |
| Sagadahoc County | 37,285 | $3,088 million | $82,820 | 17,149 | $63,193 | 2.6% |
| Lincoln County | 36,099 | $1,811 million | $50,165 | 11,252 | $53,238 | 3.1% |
| Washington County | 31,331 | $1,474 million | $47,053 | 10,211 | $50,219 | 4.5% |
| Franklin County | 30,413 | $1,509 million | $49,621 | 10,518 | $48,419 | 3.9% |
| Piscataquis County | 17,263 | $766 million | $44,355 | 5,230 | $47,151 | 4.7% |
154,710 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$9,643 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
3.4% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
71,983 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $55,593 (BLS QCEW).