Van Buren, Maine.
Typical home $116,753 (-4.9% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$322 (+110%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Down $6,064 -5%
- $122,817$116,753 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $10,160 +10%
- $106,593$116,753 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.
- Van Buren$613
- Maine$2,162
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 38 years.
Typical home values in Van Buren, ME fell 4.9% over the past year — slower than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Van Buren, Aroostook County, Maine
Van Buren, in Aroostook County, had 1,809 people in the 2020 census. Half its households earn more than $38,851 a year and half less, against $56,700 across Aroostook County; 24% of its people live below the poverty line. 62% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 38% are rented. Unemployment in Aroostook County was 4.1% in August 2026, and the county had 1.3% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Aroostook County work in schools and health care, then shops.
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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Van Buren is a small community on the northern edge of Maine, and its residents are older than in most American towns. Incomes run well below the county's, and more people live below the poverty line than is typical, though most homes are lived in by their owners and the typical home value is modest. Winters are long, cold and very snowy, with January the coldest month, while summers are mild and comfortable.
Work. Residents work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, followed by shops, manufacturing, and transport and warehouse work. Across Aroostook County, the largest workplaces include The Aroostook Medical Center, Cary Medical Center and Walmart. Few adults hold a four-year degree, commutes are short, and unemployment across the county has edged up a little over the past year, with somewhat fewer jobs than the year before.
Things to do. Acadian Village, a museum, is a short drive away and recalls the region's Acadian heritage. A longer drive brings you to the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area, and to the Loring Military Heritage Center, another museum. Little River and the Little Madawaska River, both also a longer drive away, are there for those who like to be near water.
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- 770households
- 10%of adults have a degree
- 24%below the poverty line
- 16 mintypical commute
- 9%work from home
What people in Aroostook County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Aroostook County had 25,657 jobs in 2025, 1.3% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 19° and lows near -4°; warmest in July, with highs near 76° and lows near 55°. About 97 inches of snow and 41 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Van Buren weather station, under a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Aroostook County
- THE Aroostook Medical CenterGeneral hospital807FTE
- Cary Medical CenterGeneral hospital352FTE
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters337
- RSU 79/msad 01 SchoolsSchool district332FTE
- Houlton Regional HospitalCritical access hospital279FTE
- Northern Maine Medical CenterGeneral hospital253FTE
- RSU 39 SchoolsSchool district221FTE
- RSU 29/msad 29 SchoolsSchool district216FTE
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 63 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 4,609 people in all across the county; Van Buren has one 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 weatherVery high
- Cold wavesVery high
- HurricanesRelatively moderate
- Ice stormsRelatively moderate
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Van Buren’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. 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 Aroostook County.
Van Buren home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Van Buren$116,753
- 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.
- Van Buren9
Zip codes with a Van Buren address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Van Buren — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.