Bolthole Index county-legal census · checked 2026-10-07
10 of Maine's 16 counties — 63% — have no county-wide zoning. That is the 23rd-largest count of any state. The strongest of them on the Bolthole Index is Penobscot County (90/100). Every entry below cites the county’s own official source.
Rules change, and cities inside these counties set their own — treat this as a verified starting point, not legal advice. All 1042 counties nationwide → Maine: owner-builder → Maine: no minimum home size → Full Maine profile →
From the Maine guide
Maine has 10 counties listed without county-wide zoning and 6 listed with zoning; no county combines no residential building-permit requirement with no county-wide zoning.41011 The first entries without county-wide zoning are Penobscot County, Hancock County, Lincoln County and Knox County.4 Use the Maine no-zoning county list to compare that county-level distinction.4
Absence of county-wide zoning does not establish that a Maine parcel has no land-use controls: municipalities adopt shoreland ordinances, and LUPC sets districts and standards in its unorganized and deorganized territory.185 Ask the municipal code office or LUPC regional representative for the parcel's district before designing a dwelling.195 We could not confirm general statewide dwelling-size, lot-size, setback, lot-coverage or building-height answers; ask that same office for the parcel's applicable standards.5 The minimum-home-size county list is a starting point for a local question, not a statewide exemption.1
From the Maine guide, written from the cited official sources and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: confirm with the office before you buy or build.
10 of 16 Maine counties · sorted by Index score
Maine county government has no land-use/zoning authority; zoning is done by organized municipalities, and in Penobscot County's unorganized territory it is the state Land Use Pl…
Maine DACF - About the Land Use Planning Commission ↗Maine counties have no zoning authority; land use/zoning is handled at the municipal level (the Hancock County Planning Commission provides only advisory regional planning, not …
Hancock County Planning Commission - Land Use ↗There is no countywide zoning in Lincoln County. Maine law establishes zoning ordinances through municipal legislative bodies, so land-use rules vary by town; the Lincoln County…
Maine Revised Statutes Title 30-A §4352 - Zoning Ordinances ↗Maine has no county-level zoning; land use is regulated by individual municipalities, and Knox County lists no planning/zoning department among its offices.
Knox County, Maine - County Departments ↗County government zoning regulation throughout Waldo County, including the county's unincorporated territory as distinguished from municipal and LUPC-administered areas. The cou…
About Waldo County ↗Maine has no county zoning; land use is regulated by individual municipalities (and by the state Land Use Planning Commission in the county's unorganized territory), not by Oxfo…
Maine DECD - Code Enforcement & Building Codes ↗Counties do not zone in Maine; land-use zoning is enacted by individual municipalities, so Kennebec County itself has no county zoning ordinance.
Maine Revised Statutes Title 30-A (municipal land use enforcement) ↗Maine has no county zoning; land-use regulation and code enforcement are handled at the municipal level, so there is no Sagadahoc County zoning authority.
Maine Office of Community Affairs - Code Enforcement ↗Maine has no county-level zoning; land use, setbacks and shoreland zoning are administered by individual municipalities, not Androscoggin County.
Maine Office of State Fire Marshal - Building Codes ↗Maine has no county-level zoning; land-use and zoning are administered by each municipality (Title 30-A ch. 187) via its Code Enforcement Officer.
MRS Title 30-A Ch. 187 Planning and Land Use Regulation ↗Every county here has a full profile — water, land prices, hazard safety, seclusion, and the rest of its building rules. See the Maine state page for all 16 counties ranked, or go back to the national list.
Off-grid gear
Building on land in one of these Maine counties? The kit we'd start with:
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General guidance, not legal advice. Off-grid, building, and land-use rules are often set at the county level and change often. Verify with your county and state before acting. Data reviewed 2026-06-26.
