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York County, ME — Hotels Saturation

How many hotels exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 40 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Hotels · Motels · Motor inns. Counted together because official statistics use one 721110 code.

Measured density: Very high density — 3.79× the U.S. rate (between 3.79× and 5.32× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 30 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 26 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

Very high density   York County hotels — 379–532% of the U.S. rate

128 hotels are counted in York County — 5.2 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 379% of the U.S. rate of 1.4.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has fallen 15% between 2015 and 2023 (144 → 123). That set is smaller than today's county total. 2020–2021 were pandemic-distorted, and Census rounds counts, so small moves are within noise.

Measured supply density is highest in 04064 (Old Orchard Beach), 04090 (Wells), 04043 (Kennebunk) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 04005 (Biddeford), 04072 (Saco), 03909 (York).

Census County Business Patterns (2023) puts the county-wide count at 136 establishments, including locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA — so it can run slightly above the sum of the ZIP rows on this page. It is annual, so it lags more than QCEW.

Measured density: York County sits at 379% of the U.S. rate for hotels. 26 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 379% and 532% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 04064 and 04090; the lowest measured density is in 04005 and 04072.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing hotels and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Hotels
128–188
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (30 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
5.2
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
1.4
per 10,000 present
County index
3.79×
vs. U.S.
Latest year (CBP)
136
2023 — $85M annual payroll
Residents
216,731
36 ZIPs with data
Workers
56,342
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
220,143
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+3.7%
+7,880 people
Net migration 2024
+1,805
international +591, domestic +1,214
Jobs located here
67,427
LODES 2022, +4.2% since 2019

York County had an estimated 220,143 residents on July 1, 2024 — 3.7% more than in 2020 (+7,880). In the latest year it gained 1,026 people: births minus deaths −778, international migration +591, domestic migration +1,214. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

67,427 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+4.2% since 2019), and 100,806 employed residents lived there (+1.8% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
03906 North Berwick
+13.9%
04090 Wells
+13.0%
04048 Limerick
+12.2%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change

No ZIP had a statistically significant decrease.

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses

Not shown. Census publishes hotels only combined with other traveler accommodation (NAICS 7211), so a hotels-and-motels-only nonemployer count is not published.

Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024 (NAICS 2022). We do not approximate this figure.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more hotels in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — down 15% since 2015

Number of hotels in York County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

144
2015
144
2018
136
2020
132
2021
129
2022
123
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
04064 Old Orchard Beach
3088%
04090 Wells
1099%
04043 Kennebunk
664%
04046 Kennebunkport
560%
03904 Kittery
365%
03909 York
332%
04072 Saco
204%
04005 Biddeford
119%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
04005 Biddeford
119%
04072 Saco
204%
03909 York
332%
03904 Kittery
365%
04046 Kennebunkport
560%
04043 Kennebunk
664%
04090 Wells
1099%
04064 Old Orchard Beach
3088%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few hotels may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIPNeighborhoodType ResidentsWorkersHotelsIndex
03910York Beach Employment hub 15144 7 58276%

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = hotels per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersHotels Per 10kIndexStatus
03910York Beach 15144 7 804.6 58276% Very high density
03907Ogunquit 1,3791,180 19 96.5 6989% Very high density
04064Old Orchard Beach 8,6321,033 39 42.6 3088% Very high density
04090Wells 11,7132,927 20 15.2 1099% Very high density
04043Kennebunk 11,8204,707 13 9.2 664% Very high density
04046Kennebunkport 8,1021,898 7 7.7 560% Very high density
03904Kittery 8,3893,063 5 5.0 365% Very high density
03909York 10,9434,260 6 4.6 332% Very high density
04072Saco 20,8197,995 7 2.8 204% High density
04005Biddeford 24,77211,252 5 1.6 119% Above average
03901Berwick 8,175749 0–2 — — Not published
03902Cape Neddick 2,665290 0–2 — — Not published
03903Eliot 7,1461,458 0–2 — — Not published
03905Kittery Point 2,08495 0–2 — — Not published
03906North Berwick 5,3682,370 0–2 — — Not published
03908South Berwick 7,431880 0–2 — — Not published
03911York Harbor 36366 0–2 — — Not published
04001Acton 2,721216 0–2 — — Not published
04002Alfred 7,737774 0–2 — — Not published
04004Bar Mills —36 0–2 — — Not published
04006Biddeford Pool 3910 0–2 — — Not published
04014Cape Porpoise —5 0–2 — — Not published
04020Cornish 1,803519 0–2 — — Not published
04027Lebanon 6,629358 0–2 — — Not published
04030East Waterboro 2,731510 0–2 — — Not published
04042Hollis Center 4,872840 0–2 — — Not published
04047Parsonsfield 1,715189 0–2 — — Not published
04048Limerick 3,400346 0–2 — — Not published
04049Limington 4,017171 0–2 — — Not published
04054Moody —61 0–2 — — Not published
04056Newfield 10013 0–2 — — Not published
04061North Waterboro 3,074136 0–2 — — Not published
04063Ocean Park 61278 0–2 — — Not published
04073Sanford 17,4145,433 0–2 — — Not published
04076Shapleigh 2,976158 0–2 — — Not published
04083Springvale 4,833678 0–2 — — Not published
04087Waterboro 2,250417 0–2 — — Not published
04093Buxton 8,5121,064 0–2 — — Not published
04094West Kennebunk —97 0–2 — — Not published
04095West Newfield 1,48065 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Biddeford

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
Browse Biddeford retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Biddeford retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Biddeford retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow York County and hotels

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 721110 — hotels (except casino hotels) and motels. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. This industry has no clean QCEW series, so the freshest county signal is Census County Business Patterns 2023: 136 establishments and $85M in annual payroll county-wide. This count includes locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA, so it can be slightly higher than the sum of the ZIP rows. CBP is annual and slower than QCEW. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (1.38 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.