156,840 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.1% since 2020)
3,397 square miles of land · 46 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
54 active community water systems list Penobscot County in the area they serve, reporting 74,370 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BANGOR WATER DISTRICT surface water · local government · ME0090110 | 27,298 served |
| BREWER WATER DEPARTMENT surface water · local government · ME0090220 | 8,860 served |
| OLD TOWN WATER DISTRICT groundwater · local government · ME0091200 | 7,648 served |
| ORONO-VEAZIE WATER DISTRICT groundwater · local government · ME0091210 | 5,793 served |
| MAINE WATER COMPANY MILLINOCKET DIVISION surface water · private · ME0090990 | 5,400 served |
| HAMPDEN WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · ME0090660 | 4,800 served |
| LINCOLN WATER DISTRICT groundwater · local government · ME0090860 | 3,020 served |
| DEXTER UTILITY DISTRICT surface water · local government · ME0090440 | 2,338 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 145 people were held in Penobscot County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 143 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 192.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
27 school districts have their office in Penobscot County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $63.2 million — $61.4 million to run schools, about $17,773 per student, plus $243,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $27.5 million local (mostly property tax), $28.7 million state, $6.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.2 million.
Spent $37.5 million — $36.8 million to run schools, about $16,162 per student, plus $119,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $14.5 million local (mostly property tax), $23.3 million state, $4.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $22.3 million.
Spent $35.6 million — $32.7 million to run schools, about $16,953 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12.8 million local (mostly property tax), $21.7 million state, $5 million federal. Long-term debt: $50.4 million.
Spent $28 million — $27.3 million to run schools, about $17,009 per student, plus $274,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.6 million local (mostly property tax), $14.9 million state, $2.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $8.1 million.
Spent $28.6 million — $26.9 million to run schools, about $18,736 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.1 million local (mostly property tax), $14.4 million state, $5.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $298,000.
Spent $18.9 million — $18.5 million to run schools, about $13,263 per student, plus $234,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.9 million local (mostly property tax), $8.6 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.5 million.
Spent $17 million — $16.2 million to run schools, about $15,146 per student, plus $10,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.2 million local (mostly property tax), $11.7 million state, $1.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $18.2 million.
Spent $16.1 million — $15.8 million to run schools, about $16,810 per student, plus $150,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7 million local (mostly property tax), $7 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $194,000.
And 19 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Penobscot County about $41.2 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
317 bridges in Penobscot County: 64 in good condition, 193 fair, and 60 poor (18.9%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| I 95 over ROUTE 15 (BROADWAY) · built 1960 | 25,340 vehicles a day |
| I 95 SB over STILLWATER AVENUE · built 1960 | 25,150 vehicles a day |
| I 95 NB over STILLWATER AVENUE · built 1960 | 25,120 vehicles a day |
| INDEPENDENT ST over KENDUSKEAG STREAM · built 1929 | 11,561 vehicles a day |
| PARKWAY S over I-395 · built 1985 | 10,212 vehicles a day |
| HOGAN RD over INTERSTATE 95 NB & SB · built 1960 | 8,606 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $187.5 million of work in Penobscot County in fiscal 2025, about $1,232 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Maine are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Penobscot County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Penobscot County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Maine: the state government and every county in Maine.
Nearby counties: Piscataquis County (41 mi) · Washington County (60 mi) · Hancock County (60 mi) · Somerset County (63 mi) · Waldo County (68 mi) · Kennebec County (87 mi).