Census-designated place Southwest Harbor is a census-designated place in Maine, in Hancock County. A census-designated place is an unincorporated community that the Census Bureau defines for statistics; it has no city government of its own.
The median owner-occupied home in Southwest Harbor had a real-estate tax bill of $2,638 (± $318) a year, compared with $2,926 in Maine and $2,969 nationwide. The Census estimate of the median home value is too imprecise to report.
| Measure | Southwest Harbor | Maine | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 563 ± 212 | 1,377,400 | 332,387,540 |
| Median annual property tax bill (homeowners) | $2,638 ± $318 | $2,926 ± $22 | $2,969 ± $3 |
| Median home value | Too imprecise to report (estimate $407,700, margin of error ± $214,077) | $266,400 ± $2,109 | $303,400 ± $362 |
| Median household income | $31,518 ± $12,801rough guide only: the margin of error is 41% of the estimate | $71,773 ± $660 | $78,538 ± $176 |
| Property tax as a share of home value (calculated) | Too imprecise to report (estimate 0.65%, margin of error ± 0.35 points) | 1.10% ± 0.01 points | 0.98% ± under 0.01 points |
| Homes lived in by their owners | 26.1% ± 10.6 pointsrough guide only: the margin of error is 41% of the estimate | 74.0% ± 0.5 points | 65.0% ± 0.3 points |
| Owner households headed by someone 65 or older | 57.1% ± 26.5 pointsrough guide only: the margin of error is 46% of the estimate | 35.0% ± 0.3 points | 32.6% ± 0.2 points |
| Owners spending 30% or more of income on housing costs | Too imprecise to report (estimate 8.3%, margin of error ± 36.4 points) | 22.0% ± 0.5 points | 22.2% ± 0.1 points |
How to read these numbers
- These are estimates from a survey, not a count. The American Community Survey asks a sample of households. The ± figure is the Census Bureau’s margin of error: the true value is very likely within that range of the estimate. Small places have large margins.
- “Too imprecise to report” means the margin of error is at least half of the estimate, so printing the number would suggest accuracy that does not exist. A “rough guide only” note means the margin is a quarter to a half of the estimate.
- Property tax bill and home value are medians for owner-occupied homes. Half of the homes are above the figure and half below. A median bill is not the rate set by a city or town; the bill combines taxes levied by every local government that serves the home, such as the school district and county.
- “Calculated” rows are worked out by Untax the Roof from the Census figures above them. They compare two medians, so they describe the place, not a particular household.
- Missing is not zero. Where the Census Bureau publishes no figure, this page says so.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2019–2023: tables B25103 (real estate taxes), B25077 (home value), B19013 (household income), B01003 (population), B25003 (owners and renters), B25007 (age of householder), B25091 (housing costs as a share of income); see the Census ACS data page.
If property taxes go unpaid in Maine
How it works. Municipal tax-lien mortgage recorded against real estate; automatic foreclosure if unredeemed after statutory period, subject to notice safeguards
Excess sale money. Current §943-C requires former-owner excess-sale-proceeds treatment for tax-acquired property; if municipality retains property, it must obtain appraisal and pay calculated excess proceeds. Notice and claim procedures apply
These rules are set by Maine, not by Southwest Harbor, so this section is the same for every place in the state. Last verified 2026-09-25. See the full Maine entry with statute links.