Oxford County, Maine

Oxford County is a county in Maine, United States, about 60 miles northwest of Portland. It had a
population of 57,777 at the 2020 census, an estimated 59,255 by 2024, and covers 2,077 square
miles (5,380 km2) of land centred near 44°29′N 70°46′W.

Paris is the county seat; its postal code is 04281, for the South Paris village. The county
holds 34 incorporated towns, one plantation and a handful of unorganized townships across the
county, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 23017.

Towns & Villages in Oxford County

Oxford County has 38 named places on record: 34 incorporated towns, one plantation (a
Maine-specific unit with limited local government) and three organized unincorporated territories
covering the county’s sparsely settled far north. All 34 towns are self-governing under Maine’s
town-meeting system — unlike Midwest states, Maine has no separate civil-township layer
inside its counties.

Paris carries two ZIPs because its two villages, Paris Hill and South Paris, are addressed
separately — South Paris is the larger commercial center and the one most residents use.
Umbagog Lake straddles the Maine–New Hampshire line; its Maine shore sits in Upton, but the
lake itself is more often associated with Errol, New Hampshire, on the opposite bank.

ZIP Codes

• 04276 — Rumford
• 04271 — Paris (Paris Hill)
• 04281 — South Paris (Paris’s main village)
• 04268 — Norway
• 04270 — Oxford
• 04037 — Fryeburg
• 04257 — Mexico
• 04217 — Bethel
• 04286 — West Bethel (also serves outlying Bethel)
• 04224 — Dixfield
• 04289 — West Paris
• 04220 — Buckfield
• 04088 — Waterford
• 04267 — North Waterford
• 04068 — Porter
• 04041 — Hiram
• 04010 — Brownfield
• 04219 — Bryant Pond (Woodstock’s post office village)
• 04238 — Hebron
• 04221 — Canton
• 04051 — Lovell
• 04016 — Center Lovell
• 04290 — Peru
• 04022 — Denmark
• 04255 — Greenwood
• 04216 — Andover
• 04226 — East Andover
• 04292 — Sumner
• 04261 — Newry
• 04275 — Roxbury
• 04237 — Hanover
• 04231 — Stoneham

Otisfield, Sweden, Stow, Gilead, Byron, Upton, Lincoln Plantation and the three unorganized
territories have no post office of their own; mail there is delivered under a neighbouring
town’s ZIP.

Geography

Oxford County runs the full width of western Maine, from farmland along the Saco and
Androscoggin rivers in the south to the granite peaks of the Mahoosuc Range on the New Hampshire
and Quebec borders in the north. Of its 2,176 total square miles, 2,077 are land and 99 are water,
about 4.5 percent — most of that in Umbagog Lake (7,850 acres, shared with Errol, New
Hampshire) and the county’s many smaller ponds. The Androscoggin River, which powers the Rumford
paper mill at Pennacook Falls, is the county’s principal river. Old Speck Mountain, on the
southern edge of Grafton Notch State Park in Grafton Township, rises 4,170 feet — the
fourth-highest peak in Maine — and a 12-mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail crosses the
park past Screw Auger Falls and Mother Walker Falls.

Franklin County lies to the northeast, Androscoggin County to the east, Cumberland County to
the southeast, and York County to the south. Carroll County, New Hampshire, borders the county to
the southwest, Coos County, New Hampshire, to the west, and Quebec’s Le Granit Regional County
Municipality to the north. Franklin
County and Androscoggin
County both border Oxford directly, as does Cumberland County.

Demographics

Oxford County had a population of 57,777 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 59,255 residents as of 2024. Rumford and Norway together with
Paris and Oxford hold the largest share of that total, though no single town dominates —
Rumford, the biggest, has just over 10 percent of the county’s people. Median household income
runs $60,173, notably below Maine’s statewide figure of $73,733 (2023 ACS). Population density
works out to roughly 28 people per square mile of land, low for southern Maine and typical of the
state’s rural western counties.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance is the county’s largest employment sector, with about 4,228
workers, followed by retail trade at 3,363 and educational services at 3,113. ND Paper’s Rumford
Mill, on the Androscoggin River, has anchored the county’s industrial economy since papermaking
began there in 1893 and remains the largest single employer in the Rumford–Mexico area.
Winter tourism centers on Sunday River Resort in Newry, one of Maine’s largest ski areas, and on
smaller hills including Mt. Abram in Greenwood. The county’s biggest annual event is the Fryeburg
Fair, an eight-day agricultural fair each October that draws more than 175,000 paid attendees and
is billed as the largest fair in Maine.

History

The Massachusetts General Court formed Oxford County on 4 March 1805, carving it out of York
and Cumberland counties while Maine was still part of Massachusetts. It was named for Oxford,
Massachusetts. Paris became the county seat, and its South Paris village grew into the county’s
commercial hub once the railroad arrived.

Rumford’s transformation from a farming town of about 200 people into an industrial center
began in 1882, when Hugh J. Chisholm recognised that the Androscoggin River’s 177-foot drop at
Pennacook Falls could power a paper mill. Rail service reached the town in 1892 and the first mill
opened in 1893. Rumford is also the birthplace of Edmund Muskie, who served as Maine’s governor,
a U.S. senator and U.S. secretary of state.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Oxford County. U.S. Route 2 runs through Bethel and Rumford in
the north; Maine Routes 26, 5, 4, 108 and 302 connect the county’s towns to Auburn, Lewiston and
Portland to the south and east.

• Portland — about 60 miles southeast
• Lewiston-Auburn — about 30 miles east
• Conway, New Hampshire — about 20 miles south of Fryeburg
• North Conway, New Hampshire — about 25 miles southwest of Bethel

Portland International Jetport, roughly 60 miles southeast of Paris, is the nearest major
commercial airport. Amtrak does not serve Oxford County; the closest Downeaster station is in
Portland.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Oxford County located?
It sits in western Maine along the New Hampshire and Quebec borders, about 60 miles northwest of
Portland.

What is the population of Oxford County?
57,777 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 59,255.

How big is Oxford County?
2,176 square miles total, of which 2,077 square miles are land and 99 square miles are water.

What is the county seat of Oxford County?
Paris is the county seat; its South Paris village, postal code 04281, is the county’s commercial
center.

How many towns are in Oxford County?
34 incorporated towns, one plantation (Lincoln Plantation) and three unorganized territories
(North Oxford, South Oxford and Milton) in the sparsely settled north.

What ZIP codes does Oxford County use?
32 ZIP codes in all, led by 04276 for Rumford, 04281 for South Paris and 04268 for Norway.

What is Oxford County known for?
The ND Paper mill in Rumford, Sunday River ski resort in Newry, and the Fryeburg Fair, Maine’s
largest agricultural fair each October.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Maine.