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Place dossier plate
SheetME-CARIBOU-ME · Caribou, ME 7,427 pop · income 26th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Caribou
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Caribou on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Trumann · lowest
38,079
Trumann · lowest
38,079 median HH income
30.4% of the leader · rank #1
Burden · near
54,261
Burden · near
54,261 median HH income
43.4% of the leader · rank #2
Caribou · this city
54,271
Caribou · this city
54,271 median HH income
43.4% of the leader · rank #3
Centertown · near
54,271
Centertown · near
54,271 median HH income
43.4% of the leader · rank #4
Macdona · near
54,279
Macdona · near
54,279 median HH income
43.4% of the leader · rank #5
Seven Mile · near
54,280
Seven Mile · near
54,280 median HH income
43.4% of the leader · rank #6
Gorham · highest
125,058
Gorham · highest
125,058 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Caribou on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 7,427.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Caribou places in the 26th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
26th
percentile, household income
17th
percentile, home value
69th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Caribou, ME
Maine's Caribou is a small town, with 7,427 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Caribou households earn a median of $54,271 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.5%. Home values in Caribou run a median of $120,300, and the median resident age is 52.3 years. 28.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 52.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 6 residential building permits were authorized in Caribou (Construction Slowdown), down 87% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data.
Maine tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 97.1 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,448 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Maine's average monthly utility costs around $273 (state average). Commute times here average 14.3 minutes, with 75.2% driving alone and 9.0% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 56.7 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Caribou's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from schools and households to work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Caribou, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Caribou?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 28.6% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
What does the journey to work look like in Caribou?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 14.3 minutes.
How far does income reach against housing in Caribou?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
Which cities make useful reference points for Caribou?
Within Maine, the closest population matches are Old (7,439 residents, $49,329 income); Gorham (7,365 residents, $125,058 income); Rockland (6,991 residents, $55,276 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Belen, NM (7,427 residents); Montevallo, AL (7,429 residents); Escalon, CA (7,429 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Caribou growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -84 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 6 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
-1.1%
2025 estimate
7,321
2020 estimate
7,405
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Below median income · poverty 5.5% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Maine average
D
City profile score · Caribou, ME
47/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Poverty rate C+
5.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C
28.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living C-
97.1 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income F
$54,271
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Caribou profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 62/100 (C+) · 5.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 56/100 (C) · 28.6%
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Household income: 26/100 (F) · $54,271
How does Caribou compare to other US cities?
Caribou measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income26% higher than other cities
Home value17% pricier than other cities
Median rent69% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Caribou against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Maine only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Maine-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Caribou near the bottom of Maine's cities
Among the 154 Maine cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Caribou ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Caribou only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#85 of 145
41st percentile in Maine
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 154
0th percentile in Maine
Median Home Value
#123 of 151
19th percentile in Maine
Poverty Rate
#92 of 154
40th percentile in Maine
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#72 of 154
53rd percentile in Maine
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Maine only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
26th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Caribou's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$120,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 83% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Caribou's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,539 of 15,516
More affordable than 84% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,375 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.2×, Caribou sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,539 of 15,516 and #2,375 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$54,271Caribou, ME median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Caribou, ME median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Caribou, ME.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)28.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)52.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
7,427
Median Income
$54,271
Median Home Value
$120,300
Median Age
52.3
Poverty Rate
5.5%
Labor force participation
52.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
28.6%
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Caribou's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
7,405 residents
2021
7,425 residents
2022
7,425 residents
2023
7,404 residents
2024
7,350 residents
2025
7,321 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
6
housing units authorized
Single-Family
4
detached homes
Multifamily
2
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
45
3
42
$4.0M
2020
6
6
0
$2.4M
2021
7
5
2
$1.7M
2022
2
2
0
$0.3M
2023
6
6
0
$1.5M
2024
6
4
2
$1.6M
Permit volume decreased 87% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
14.3 minutes
Drive Alone
75.2%
Carpool
11.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.5%
Work from Home
9.0%
Other
1.0%
Based on 3,394 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Maine statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $273
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Maine at $273 (electricity about $130 , water and sewer about $48 ).
These are Maine statewide averages, not a meter reading for Caribou. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Maine's BEA cost-of-living index is 97.1 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Caribou is $1,448/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Maine statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 56.7 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Maine statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Caribou sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Caribou compares to similar-size Maine cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.