State rental market analysis · ME
Maine rental markets
20 tracked cities over 5,000 population, 20 ranked and summarized by their median Overall; 0 of 19 evaluable cities pass the modeled Buy & Hold screen. Every number traces to Census, Zillow and BLS. Compare state coverage and results →
Browse every Maine ZIP Code area → · the full server-rendered index for this state.
Part of the New England Census division (Northeast region).
The honest read
Maine has a median Overall of 44.6/100 across its ranked cities, but it is not assigned a headline state rank: 19 cities across 10 county contexts are evaluable for the Buy & Hold screen, below the published minimum of 20 cities and 10 county contexts. 20 ranked cities roll up into this grade. Its strongest factor is rent growth: 4.8%, 5th of 51, backed by home-value growth (8th).
The biggest drag is affordability (price-to-income): 5.6×, 37th of 51. A state grade is the median of its ranked cities, a screen for where to look, not underwriting. Open any city below for its full shown-math breakdown, or run a specific deal through the cap rate and cash-flow calculators.
Where it ranks, factor by factor
Every value is the median across the 20 ranked cities in this state. The national rank compares all 51 states on that one factor; the engine already flips inverted factors (affordability, low unemployment) so a better rank always means a better market. Each factor sits in one of the model’s three categories (Cash Flow, Growth, or Stability); this is a representative summary, and the full thirteen-factor breakdown is on each city’s page. Full methodology.
| Factor | Category | State value | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross rent yield | Cash Flow | 5.7% | #29 of 51 |
| Rent growth | Growth | 4.8% | #5 of 51 |
| Home value growth | Growth | 5.3% | #8 of 51 |
| Population growth | Growth | 0.6% | #25 of 51 |
| Job growth | Growth | 0.4% | #33 of 51 |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 5.6× | #37 of 51 |
| Unemployment | Stability | 3.2% | #9 of 51 |
| Rental demand | Stability | 44% renters · 3.6% vacancy | two-part measure |
| Income growth | Growth | 5.5% | #18 of 51 |
Every city in Maine, ranked
Led by Westbrook at 65/100. Click any column to re-sort; every city links to its full shown-math breakdown.
| ME rank | City | Grade | Cash Flow | Growth | Stability | Typical home value | Gross yield | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westbrook | 65 | C | B | B | $458,320 | 6.3% | #363 |
| 2 | Waterville | 58 | C | C | B | $253,736 | 6.5% | #922 |
| 3 | South Portland | 57 | C | C | A | $522,512 | 5.7% | #971 |
| 4 med | Gardiner | 52 | C | C | C | $289,603 | 6.0% | #1640 |
| 5 | Auburn | 51 | C | C | C | $326,716 | 6.1% | #1751 |
| 6 | Saco | 51 | D | B | B | $524,610 | 4.6% | #1862 |
| 7 | Augusta | 49 | C | C | B | $282,091 | 6.7% | #2051 |
| 8 med | Sanford | 49 | D | B | C | $375,492 | 4.9% | #2174 |
| 9 | Lewiston | 48 | C | C | C | $298,174 | 5.9% | #2308 |
| 10 | Brewer | 47 | C | D | B | $306,030 | 5.6% | #2376 |
| 11 med | Presque Isle | 45 | B | D | C | $179,198 | 7.4% | #2779 |
| 12 | Bath | 44 | D | C | C | $378,676 | 5.9% | #2923 |
| 13 | Bangor | 41 | C | C | D | $288,461 | 6.3% | #3256 |
| 14 med | Old Town | 41 | C | D | C | $208,100 | 5.7% | #3257 |
| 15 med | Ellsworth | 40 | D | C | D | $360,410 | 5.0% | #3366 |
| 16 | Portland | 40 | D | B | C | $559,175 | 5.2% | #3417 |
| 17 | Rockland | 38 | D | D | B | $344,864 | 6.0% | #3654 |
| 18 | Biddeford | 36 | F | C | C | $511,133 | 4.6% | #3818 |
| 19 med | Caribou | 27 | B | F | F | $167,622 | 6.8% | #4449 |
| 20 | Belfast | 22 | F | D | D | $400,601 | 4.5% | #4630 |
Data as of: Zillow ZHVI/ZORI through the latest monthly release · Census ACS 5-yr 2020–2024 · Census PEP July 2025 · BLS LAUS county 2025 annual (11-month average). Generated 2026-10-06. Methodology & limitations · underwrite any specific deal with the free calculators.
ZIP markets in Maine
427 Census ZIP Codes (ZCTAs) in Maine · 228 data-eligible for subscores. These are sub-city government areas ranked separately from the Maine city table. The overall Rental Investor ZIP Score leaderboard leads; the two component subscores (affordability, rental-market context) follow as independent percentiles. ZIP ranks are shown within the ZIP universe only, never mixed with, and not directly comparable to, city ranks. Vintage: the Key metric column is Census ACS 2020–2024 (5-year), the same release the city table above uses; the geographies differ, so the same measure can still disagree between the two.
Best overall ZIP Codes in Maine
Ranked by the overall Rental Investor ZIP Score. The # is each ZIP Code's canonical ME state rank; the smaller figure is its national rank. Separate from the Maine city table and not directly comparable to it.
| ME rank | ZIP Code | Overallgrade · national | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 04092Westbrook | A 67#1,077 nat | 4.4%Survey yield |
| #2 | 04106South Portland | A 65#1,684 nat | 5.0%Survey yield |
| #3 | 04048Lake Arrowhead | B 63#2,499 nat | 7.8%Survey yield |
| #4 | 04093 | B 62#2,768 nat | 5.4%Survey yield |
| #5 | 04260 | B 61#2,957 nat | 3.9%Survey yield |
| #6 | 04021Cumberland Center | B 61#3,040 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| #6 | 04901Waterville | B 61#3,040 nat | 5.8%Survey yield |
| #8 | 04005Biddeford | B 61#3,160 nat | 3.9%Survey yield |
| #8 | 04039Gray | B 61#3,160 nat | 4.6%Survey yield |
| #8 | 04074Oak Hill | B 61#3,160 nat | 4.2%Survey yield |
| #11 | 04038Gorham | B 60#3,371 nat | 4.4%Survey yield |
| #12 | 04073Sanford | B 59#3,921 nat | 4.9%Survey yield |
Top affordability ZIP Codes in Maine
State-scoped leaders on the affordability subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Substantially an inverse housing-cost signal: a component of the overall score, not a predicted return.
| # | ZIP Code | Affordability | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 04628 | 82#1,025 nat | 7.5%Survey yield |
| 2 | 04920Bingham | 77#1,752 nat | 7.8%Survey yield |
| 3 | 04414Brownville Junction | 76#1,832 nat | 8.7%Survey yield |
| 4 | 04453 | 75#1,996 nat | 7.4%Survey yield |
| 5 | 04932 | 74#2,216 nat | 8.5%Survey yield |
| 6 | 04051 | 74#2,233 nat | 5.8%Survey yield |
| 7 | 04929 | 73#2,464 nat | 9.6%Survey yield |
| 8 | 04406 | 71#2,755 nat | 7.7%Survey yield |
| 9 | 04987 | 69#3,320 nat | 7.1%Survey yield |
| 10 | 04449 | 68#3,400 nat | 8.4%Survey yield |
| 11 | 04055Naples | 67#3,597 nat | 6.8%Survey yield |
| 12 | 04048Lake Arrowhead | 67#3,617 nat | 7.8%Survey yield |
Deepest rental-market ZIP Codes in Maine
State-scoped leaders on the rental-market-context subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Rental depth/tightness: a separate component, never combined here with affordability.
| # | ZIP Code | Rental market | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 04101Portland | 80#213 nat | 3.0%Survey yield |
| 2 | 04950Madison | 79#318 nat | 5.8%Survey yield |
| 3 | 04240Lewiston | 78#510 nat | 5.0%Survey yield |
| 4 | 04005Biddeford | 77#680 nat | 3.9%Survey yield |
| 5 | 04750Limestone | 76#759 nat | 9.9%Survey yield |
| 6 | 04938Farmington | 76#803 nat | 6.4%Survey yield |
| 7 | 04330Augusta | 75#893 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| 8 | 04210Auburn | 75#906 nat | 4.4%Survey yield |
| 9 | 04254Livermore Falls | 72#1,468 nat | 7.0%Survey yield |
| 10 | 04412Brewer | 72#1,511 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| 11 | 04901Waterville | 72#1,549 nat | 5.8%Survey yield |
| 12 | 04769Presque Isle | 72#1,593 nat | 7.4%Survey yield |