Dresden, Maine.
Typical home $350,587 (+1.5% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,106 (+151%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $5,280 +2%
- $345,306$350,587 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $60,928 +21%
- $289,659$350,587 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Dresden$1,840
- Maine$2,162
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 18 years.
Typical home values in Dresden, ME rose 1.5% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Dresden, Lincoln County, Maine
Dresden is a town of 1,725 people in Lincoln County. 88% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 12% are rented. Unemployment in Lincoln County was 3.1% in August 2026, and the county had 1.2% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Lincoln County work in schools and health care, then manufacturing.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Dresden is a small town in Lincoln County, Maine, and most homes here are lived in by their owners, a much higher share than is typical across the country. Poverty is less common than in many places, and the typical home is worth more than a modest cottage would suggest. Winters are cold, with January the coldest month, and summers are warm in July; rain and melted snow add up to a fair amount over the year.
Work. Residents work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, with manufacturing, shops and the building trades close behind. Across Lincoln County, some of the largest workplaces are Lincolnhealth, RSU 12 Schools and Hannaford. Commutes run longer than many people expect, and only a small number of residents work from home.
Things to do. The Little River runs in or beside town, and the Eastern River and Cathance River are a short drive away for time near the water. Peacock Beach State Park, a protected area, is also a short drive away. For history, the Wiscasset Jail and Museum is a short drive away, while the Maine Maritime Museum is a longer drive.
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- 757households
- 30%of adults have a degree
- 9%below the poverty line
- 33 mintypical commute
- 7%work from home
What people in Lincoln County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Lincoln County had 11,388 jobs in 2025, 1.2% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 32° and lows near 12°; warmest in July, with highs near 79° and lows near 58°. About 47 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Wiscasset Airport weather station, 9 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Lincoln County
- LH -35 MilesHospitals, general medical and surgical339
- LincolnhealthCritical access hospital320FTE
- RSU 12 SchoolsSchool district230FTE
- HannafordGrocery stores178
- Boothbay-Boothbay Hbr CSDSchool district128FTE
- Coastal Maine Botanical GardensBotanical gardens118
- Wiscasset Public SchoolsSchool district116FTE
- Knickerbocker GroupCustom builders, single-family home113
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 17 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 1,492 people in all across the county; Dresden has none of its own. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023) and school districts from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Winter weatherRelatively high
- Ice stormsRelatively high
- HurricanesRelatively moderate
- Coastal floodingRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across Lincoln County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, very low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Lincoln County.
Dresden home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Dresden$350,587
- Maine$412,002
- United States$366,157
Levy by levy, and a check of one home’s own bill, the site covers Ohio’s property tax.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Dresden8
Zip codes with a Dresden address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Dresden — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.