PORTLAND — Communities across southern Maine and along the state's rocky coast grew while northern communities continued to shrink, underscoring the disparities between what some observers call the "two Maines,'' census figures released Thursday showed.
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POPULATION BY COUNTY | |
| County | 2000
Population | % change
from 1990 |
| Androscoggin | 103,793 | n/a |
| Aroostook | 73,938 | n/a |
| Cumberland | 265,612 | 09.24% |
| Franklin | 29,467 | 1.58% |
| Hancock | 51,791 | 10.32% |
| Kennebec | 117,114 | 01.04% |
| Knox | 39,168 | 9.11% |
| Lincoln | 33,616 | 10.74% |
| Oxford | 54,755 | 4.09% |
| Penobscot | 144,919 | n/a |
| Piscataquis | 17,235 | n/a |
| Sagadahoc | 35,214 | 5.01% |
| Somerset | 50,888 | 2.25% |
| Waldo | 36,280 | 9.88% |
| Washington | 33,941 | n/a |
| York | 186,742 | 13.46% |
| Statewide | 1,274,923 | 3.83% |
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The six fastest-growing counties followed U.S. Route 1 from the New Hampshire border at York County northward to Knox County.
Cumberland County, which remained the state's largest, grew 9.2 percent from the last census in 1990 to a level of 265,612 in 2000.
York, the second-largest county with 186,742 people, had the biggest percentage gain of 13.5 percent. The third-fastest growing county was Hancock, which had a population gain of 10.3 percent.
By contrast, Aroostook County lost 15 percent of its population, most of which came with the closing of Loring Air Force Base in 1994. The population in Aroostook dropped from 86,936 in 1990 to 73,938 in 2000.
The other counties with the largest percentage losses were Piscataquis (minus 7.6 percent), Washington (minus 3.9 percent), and Androscoggin (minus 1.4 percent).
The reason for the disparities is simple, said Craig Holland, a senior economic analyst with the state Labor Department.
"People go to where the jobs are, and if the jobs are simply not there, they are inclined to go where the jobs are better. And in many cases that is southern Maine,'' Holland said.
Following the same logic, another major growth area was Waldo County, which had the fourth largest percentage gain at 9 percent, thanks largely to credit card giant MBNA.
The Delaware-based credit card company began operating in Camden in 1993, first aiming to fill about 75 jobs, but soon grew. Its Belfast headquarters employs about 2,200 people, and the company employs 4,500 statewide.
The figures were contained in the first data release from the U.S. Census Bureau with county-by-county breakdowns for Maine.
Overall, Maine was the slowest-growing state in northern New England, growing 3.8 percent in the 1990s to a level of 1,274,923.
New Hampshire, which grew by 11.4 percent, nearly caught up with Maine with a population of 1,235,786. Vermont's population was up 8 percent to 608,827. The national population grew by about 13 percent.
Unless trends reverse, Maine, which had the fifth slowest growth rate in the country, could lose a seat when the nation counts heads again in 2010 or 2020.
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