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Place dossier plate
SheetME-MILFORD-ME · Milford, ME 2,312 pop · income 41st 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 Milford
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Milford on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hartford · lowest
39,868
Hartford · lowest
39,868 median HH income
19.9% of the leader · rank #1
West Yarmouth · near
63,859
West Yarmouth · near
63,859 median HH income
31.9% of the leader · rank #2
Milford · this city
63,864
Milford · this city
63,864 median HH income
31.9% of the leader · rank #3
Shelley · near
63,864
Shelley · near
63,864 median HH income
31.9% of the leader · rank #4
Van · near
63,864
Van · near
63,864 median HH income
31.9% of the leader · rank #5
Garber · near
63,869
Garber · near
63,869 median HH income
31.9% of the leader · rank #6
Warson Woods · highest
200,104
Warson Woods · highest
200,104 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 Milford 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: 2,312.
Nationally, Milford sits in the 41st percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
41st
percentile, household income
36th
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: Milford, ME
Milford is a small town in Maine, home to 2,312 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $63,864 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.1%. Home values in Milford run a median of $177,400, and the median resident age is 42.7 years. 12.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 63.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Maine tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Maine at 97.1 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,448 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Maine run around $273, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 56.7 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Milford'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Milford, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Milford?
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 79.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Milford?
Within Maine, the closest population matches are Bar Harbor (2,311 residents, $72,750 income); Mechanic Falls (2,300 residents, $50,169 income); Fairfield (2,432 residents, $50,718 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Center, CO (2,312 residents); Hartford, MI (2,312 residents); Warson Woods, MO (2,312 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.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 12.4% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Milford?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.1%, 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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Below median income · poverty 5.1% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Maine average
D
City profile score · Milford, ME
44/100
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 B-
5.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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 D
$63,864
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
12.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Milford profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 65/100 (B-) · 5.1%
Cost of living: 53/100 (C-) · 97.1 index
Household income: 40/100 (D) · $63,864
Bachelor's+ share: 13/100 (F) · 12.4%
How does Milford compare to other US cities?
Here's how Milford stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income41% higher than other cities
Home value36% 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 Milford 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 Milford near the bottom of Maine's cities
Among the 154 Maine cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Milford ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Milford only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#58 of 145
60th percentile in Maine
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 154
0th percentile in Maine
Median Home Value
#89 of 151
41st percentile in Maine
Poverty Rate
#99 of 154
36th percentile in Maine
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#134 of 154
13th 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
41st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Milford's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$177,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 64% 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
Milford's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,458 of 15,516
More affordable than 65% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,747 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Milford sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,458 of 15,516 and #4,747 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
$63,864Milford, ME median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Milford, 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 Milford, ME.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)12.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,312
Median Income
$63,864
Median Home Value
$177,400
Median Age
42.7
Poverty Rate
5.1%
Labor force participation
63.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
12.4%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
79.5%
Carpool
7.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.1%
Work from Home
9.6%
Based on 1,240 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 Milford. 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 Milford 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 Milford sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Milford 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.