Cousins Island Chapel, 1894
Cousins Island’s story
141 years in pictures
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1894 and 4 maps from 1892 on.
- 1885Cousins Island is settled
Cousins IslandME
Population 658: a town settled in 1885.
Population
658
Census survey, 2020–24
Median home value
$658K
Census ACS
Household income
$181K
median
Median age
58.1
years
Jobs based here
669
A job hub
Is Cousins Island a good place to live?
62% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Cousins Island, where Maine’s towns sit at 32% and U.S. towns at 29%. Among 144 Maine towns, just one has a lower share of working residents who work in town than Cousins Island. Cousins Island’s concentration of trails is 1.5 miles per square mile, above both Maine’s towns (0.7) and U.S. towns (0.4). Cousins Island has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
What makes Cousins Island stand out
Where Cousins Island beats most towns.
By the sea
Cousins Island lives by the ocean
Coastal flooding makes up 16% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
16%of expected storm damage is coastal flooding
98thpercentile for coastal flood risk nationally
4paid flood-insurance claims since 1978
84thpercentile for hurricane risk
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
Nearby attractions
All 51 attractions →Portland Head Light and 25 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Cousins Island. Close and well known come first.
10 mi LighthousePortland Head Light
8 mi LandmarkFort Gorges18 mi Ancient sitePopham Colony
9 mi MuseumPortland Museum of Art
8 mi MuseumMaine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum
30 mi MuseumSeashore Trolley MuseumSources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits
Portland Head Light: Aniarku, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Gorges: Dirk Ingo Franke, CC BY 3.0 · Portland Museum of Art: John Phelan, CC BY 3.0 · Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum: No machine-readable author provided. Gwernol assumed (based on copyright claims), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Seashore Trolley Museum: Rene Schwietzke from Jena, Germany, CC BY 2.0
Getting set up
Moving to Cousins Island: who provides what
Cousins Island is unincorporated, so Cumberland County and regional agencies provide most services.
PowerCentral Maine Power27.4¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
Internet5 providers98% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesCumberland CountyCumberland County provides services here
Register to voteOnlineIn Maine you can register online until 21 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (received 21 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereYarmouth Town ClerkTown of Yarmouth; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Oct 2026
ZIP code0409604096 100%Census 2020
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Cousins Island.
Work & commute
Cousins Island stands out in Maine and nationally: a smaller share of its residents live below the poverty line
The top destinations are Portland (26%), Yarmouth (13%) and South Portland (7%). Cousins Island had 669 jobs in 2023, up 561 from 2013. Also worth knowing: only 2% of working residents stay in Cousins Island for work; the rest commute out.
2%work in town
| Cousins Island | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 2.7% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
In Cousins Island2%
Portland26%
Yarmouth13%
South Portland7%
Westbrook7%
11 mi
median commute distance
669
jobs based in Cousins Island
A job hub
jobs vs. working residents
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Natural hazards
Top of a low hazard risk in Cousins Island: inland flooding
Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 34% come from inland flooding and 22% from hurricanes. Cousins Island’s FEMA hazard score is 29 of 100. Flood insurance has paid out on 4 claims locally since 1978.
29risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingHurricanesCoastal flooding
4
paid flood claims since 1978
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Climate
The climate in Cousins Island brings snowy winters and pleasant summers
The town’s midsummer high stands at 78°F.
84″snow a winter
Typical low → high °F
Winter17–34°
Spring35–52°
Summer58–76°
Fall41–58°
Oct 19
typical first frost
Apr 28
typical last frost
+1.8°
vs. the 20th-century average
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Health
Compared with most of Maine and the rest of the country, fewer of Cousins Island’s adults report frequent mental distress
The share of adults 18 to 64 in Cousins Island who have no health insurance: 3.7%. Among 144 Maine towns, just one has a lower share of adults who feel lonely than Cousins Island. Nearly one in ten adults in Cousins Island smoke cigarettes; 28% sleep under 7 hours. CDC measures, 32 in all: Cousins Island beats Maine on 20 and trails on 1.
| Cousins Island | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.2% | 15% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 33% | 35% |
32 measures vs. Maine
20 better11 too close to call1 worse
| What stands out | Cousins Island | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 4.8% | 10.7% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.7% | 7.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.2% | 9.9% |
Northern Light Mercy Hospital
9.4 mi away · emergency room
None
primary care, dental or mental-health shortage
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Outdoors
Conservation land takes up 3.1% of Cousins Island
2.9 miles of trail wind through 2 parks and preserves.
3.1%conserved
3.1%
conserved · 39 of 1,261 acres
2.9 mi
of trails · 1.5 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Tinker Preserve | 0.3 mi | 15 |
| 2. Camp Soci | 0.2 mi | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Housing
The median home in Cousins Island sells for about $850K
Only 2 of the 144 Maine towns we compare have a higher home-ownership rate than Cousins Island.
$850Kmedian sale price
1
homes sold in September
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Cousins Island
16pages on Cousins Island
The big questions
Out and about
Day to day
After high school
Colleges nearby
5 within 15 miles of the center of Cousins Island
Southern Maine Community CollegeCommunity college · Public · South Portland8.7 mi$4,156 in-state tuitionMaine College of Art & DesignUniversity or college · Private nonprofit · Portland9 mi$42,942 tuitionUniversity of Southern MaineUniversity or college · Public · Portland9.1 mi$11,284 in-state tuition
About 5 of every 100 Cousins Island residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maine.
Small town
658 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Nearby towns
Littlejohn IslandCousins Island
About Cousins Island
Census-designated place in Maine, United States
Cousins Island is an island in Casco Bay within the town of Yarmouth in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. It is listed as a census-designated place, with a population of 490 as of the 2010 census. The CDP is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.0 sq mi
Questions about Cousins Island
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Cousins Island, ME a good place to live?
Cousins Island has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.