States · Maine · Waldo County

Prospect, Maine.

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What it costs per month · Prospect $2,162/mo

to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,272 (+143%) since Jan 2020.

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.

$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 Maine $2,162 United States $1,922
$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 2002 2010 2018 2026
  • Maine$2,162
  • United States$1,922

Living in Prospect, Waldo County, Maine

Prospect is a town of 698 people in Waldo County. Half its households earn more than $81,250 a year and half less, against $72,782 across Waldo County; 7% of its people live below the poverty line. 89% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 11% are rented. Unemployment in Waldo County was 3.4% in August 2026, and the county had 0.2% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Waldo County work in schools and health care, then shops.

People 698 in the 2020 census
Household income $81,250 the median, give or take $17,270 · Waldo County: $72,782
Unemployment 3.4% Waldo County, August 2026; 3.2% a year before
Homes 89% lived in by their owners; 11% rented

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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Prospect is a small town where nearly everyone owns the home they live in, and household incomes run higher than across the rest of Waldo County. Fewer residents live below the poverty line than you might expect in rural Maine, and a four-year degree is held by a minority of adults. Winters are cold and long, with January the coldest month and plenty of snow, while July brings pleasantly warm days.

Work. Residents work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, in professional and business services, and in the building trades. Across Waldo County, some of the biggest employers are Waldo County General Hospital, RSU 71 Schools and Mathews Brothers Company. Commutes are fairly long, and only a small share of people work from home.

Things to do. Fort Knox, a historic fort, and Fort Point State Park, a protected shoreline area, are both a short drive away. The Penobscot Marine Museum, also a short drive off, tells the story of the region's seafaring past. The Penobscot River, close by, adds room for time on the water, and the South Branch Marsh River runs in or beside town.

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  • 376households
  • 22%of adults have a degree
  • 7%below the poverty line
  • 33 mintypical commute
  • 6%work from home

What people in Waldo County work in

  • Schools, hospitals and social care26%
  • Shops (retail)14%
  • Professional and business services10%
  • Building trades9%
  • Manufacturing8%
  • Other services6%

Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Waldo County had 11,300 jobs in 2025, 0.2% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Weather through the year

Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 30° and 10°; warmest in July, 77° and 57° 20° 40° 60° 80° J 30° 10° F M A M J J 77° 57° A S O N D
Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 30° and 10°; warmest in July, 77° and 57° 20° 40° 60° 80° J 30° 10° F M A M J J 77° 57° A S O N D

Coldest in January, with highs near 30° and lows near 10°; warmest in July, with highs near 77° and lows near 57°. About 72 inches of snow and 49 inches of rain and melted snow a year.

Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Belfast weather station, 13 miles away (NOAA).

Largest workplaces in Waldo County

  1. Waldo County General HospitalCritical access hospital520FTE
  2. RSU 71 SchoolsSchool district368FTE
  3. Mathews Brothers CompanyWindows and window frames, vinyl, manufacturing297
  4. RSU 03/msad 03 SchoolsSchool district245FTE
  5. HannafordGrocery stores218
  6. Mowi USASeafood and seafood products manufacturing171
  7. Robbins LumberBeams, wood, made from logs or bolts145
  8. RSU 20 SchoolsSchool district139FTE

Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 22 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 2,113 people in all across the county; Prospect 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

  1. Winter weatherRelatively high
  2. Ice stormsRelatively high
  3. HurricanesRelatively moderate
  4. LightningRelatively moderate

FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across Waldo 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 Waldo County.

Prospect home values

Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.

Not enough data to draw this yet.

Market heat, inside the city limits

Homes for sale

Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.

3 4 5 6 2026 Prospect 6
3 4 5 6 2026
  • Prospect6

Zip codes with a Prospect address

A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Prospect — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.

Zillow publishes no zip-level series with this city on the address.