Best Places04001, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 04001, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
04001 ranks 6,637th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 04001
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
04001's strengths and weaknesses
Where 04001 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 96% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 04001 ranks low
- Short commute39.7 minutes each way, better than only 4% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 04001
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 04001 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $81,726; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 04001's effective rate of 0.72%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 04001
04001 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 04001.
Who works in 04001, and how
Work in 04001 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 04001
04001 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of zip codes. The coast is about 39 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 04001 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 04001, month by month
04001 sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 25° | 14° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 32° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 58° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 38° |
Flying in and out of 04001
The nearest airport, Portsmouth International at Pease, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around 04001
Schools across 04001 average an A, better than 96% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Acton Elementary SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Shapleigh Memorial SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Massabesic Middle SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
Top high schools
- Sanford High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Massabesic High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Kingswood Regional High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 04001 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
04001 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 04001 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 04001
Is 04001 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 04001 ranks 6,637th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, cheap car insurance, and tree cover, and lowest on long commutes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 04001 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $339,113. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $81,726 median income, cost of living beats 41% of zip codes.
Is 04001 safe?
Yes, 04001 is safer than 100% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $120 per resident a year.
Compare 04001 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 04001. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 04001 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
04001 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 04001: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 04001: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 04001: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 04001: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
04001 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.