Population, Largest Communities

Fifteen communities had populations of over 15,000 in the year 2010, two more than in 2000. While ranks of the first five were little changed, Scarborough surged ahead while Waterville fell behind. Windham and Gorham were new to the list in 2010.

Among the fifteen, the fastest growing communities from 2000 to 2010 were suburbs of Portland: Scarborough 11.5%;, Windham 14.1%; and Gorham 15.8%. Only two of the fifteen lost population: Auburn 0.6%; and Brunswick 4.2%, mostly due to the closing of Brunswick Naval Air Station.

Rank	Town	County	1990	2000	2010
1, 1, 1	Portland	Cumberland	64,358	64,249	66,194
2, 2, 2	Lewiston	Androscoggin	39,757	35,690	36,592
3, 3, 3	Bangor	Penobscot	33,181	31,473	33,039
5, 4, 4	South Portland	Cumberland	23,163	23,324	25,002
4, 5, 5	Auburn	Androscoggin	24,039	23,203	23,055
8, 7, 6	Biddeford	York	20,710	20,942	21,277
9, 8, 7	Sanford	York	20,463	20,806	20,798
7, 6, 8	Brunswick	Cumberland	20,906	21,172	20,278
6, 9, 9	Augusta	Kennebec	21,325	18,560	19,136
14, 10, 10	Scarborough	Cumberland	12,518	16,970	18,919
12, 11, 11	Saco	York	15,181	16,822	18,482
11, 12, 12	Westbrook	Cumberland	16,121	16,142	17,494
13, 14, 13	Windham	Cumberland	13,020	14,904	17,001
15, 15, 14	Gorham	Cumberland	11,856	14,141	16,381
10, 13, 15	Waterville	Kennebec	17,173	15,605	15,772

The “Rank” numbers refer to the population data reported in columns 1990, 2000, and 2010 respectively. Change in community rankings from 1990 to 2010 among those that moved two or more places is shown in the chart below. None in the top five, nor in the bottom five, moved that much. Thus, the chart depicts changes in the middle five of the fifteen communities with populations over 15,000.

Population Trends