Our Island
Located fifteen miles off the midcoast of Maine, Vinalhaven is a vibrant, multigenerational island community. The island is home to 1,200 year-round residents and about 4,000 summer residents. Whether year-round or seasonal, people live on our remote island - connected to the mainland by a 75-minute ferry - because it is a unique and special place.
Vinalhaven's working waterfront is central to the island's character and history.
Vinalhaven maintains one of Maine's largest lobstering fleets, where generations of islanders have made, and continue to make, a living on the waterfront. Other residents work to provide services essential to sustaining a year-round island community, including our K-12 school educators, our medical, eldercare, and emergency services, our construction and building trades, and our local offices and businesses.
Housing Affordability
Too many of Vinalhaven's hard-working residents, who collectively make the island a viable offshore community, lack access to affordable housing.
The lack of affordable housing is a critical issue throughout Maine, but small island communities like Vinalhaven feel these pressures acutely. "For many years, Mainers have grappled with unaffordable rents, scarce housing availability for working families, and regulatory barriers that help keep supply low - all of which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, growing numbers of seasonal homes, and development challenges." Maine's Housing Crossroads, The Working Waterfront, Island Institute (Jan. 22, 2026).
"The dominant issue in Maine is affordability." Maine's Housing Outlook 2026, MSHA Report. Many Maine households struggle with rental cost burden, spending more than 30% of their income on housing, with little left to cover other necessities. The problem is growing: 62% of Maine renters earning $35,000-$49,999 were housing cost-burdened in 2024, compared to only 37% six years earlier. About 80% of Mainers earning less than $35,000 are housing cost-burdened.
The Vinalhaven Housing Initiative was formed as a non-profit in 2023 to address this urgent need for affordable housing. In 2026, just three years after its formation, VHI will be providing affordable workforce housing for up to 10 island residents, with plans for more development.