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Towns / Maine

Belfast, Maine

Belfast is a small town of about 7,000 people in Waldo County, Maine. It's the county seat. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 5 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Boston, is about 175 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
6,988
up 0.5% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$340,900
Waldo County prices up 24% since 2022
Household income
$67,679
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Maine
91.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Mainehealth Waldo Hospital
To Boston
175 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 8.4% below the U.S. average in the parts of Maine outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood2 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 7.4 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town5 public schools: 3 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byMainehealth Waldo Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBoston is about 175 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Belfast meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$340,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 24%Waldo County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$962 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$67,679U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
69%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$4,145 a yearMaine: $3,036
Homes built before 1940
36%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
11%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
10%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
91.6U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Maine outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 24% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Maine outside metro areas, not Belfast alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
6,9882020: 6,954
Median age
60.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
39%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
14%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
43%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Retail (23%); schools, health care and social services (23%); professional and business services (13%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
22 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
12%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
16%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Mainehealth Waldo Hospital, Belfast, ME, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Mainehealth Pen Bay Hospital, Rockport, ME, about 20 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

5 public schools in Belfast, run by Rsu 71 and Northport Public Schools.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Maine's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
71%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
90%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
10°F
July average high
77°F
Days 90°F or hotter
2 a year
Nights at or below freezing
162 a year
Rain and melted snow
48.8 inches a year
Snow
72 inches a year
Elevation
200 feet

Weather station: Belfast (3 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Portland, Boston.

Waldo County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

11 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Belfast Commercial Historic District, Belfast Historic District (Additional Documentation), Belfast Historic District (Boundary Increase) and the Church Street Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Acadia National Park31 miles
  • Frances Perkins National Monument39 miles

Read about Belfast's history on Wikipedia.

Know Belfast?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Waldo, ME873 people, 4 miles
  • Knox, ME811 people, 11 miles
  • Monroe, ME941 people, 12 miles
  • Islesboro, ME596 people, 12 miles
  • Prospect, ME703 people, 12 miles
  • Brooksville, ME933 people, 14 miles
  • Verona Island, ME515 people, 14 miles
  • Jackson, ME614 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.