Best Places04003, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 04003, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
04003 ranks 1,581st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 04003
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.
04003's strengths and weaknesses
Where 04003 ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of zip codes
Where 04003 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,229 a month, better than only 20% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 24% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 04003
A household needs to earn about $149,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 04003 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $115,391, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 04003's effective rate of 0.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 04003
04003 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 04003.
Who works in 04003, and how
Work in 04003 centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 04003
The coast is about 1 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 04003, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 04003, month by month
04003 sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 27° | 17° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 04003
The nearest airport, Portland International Jetport, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 108 miles away.
The best schools in and around 04003
Schools across 04003 average an A+, better than 99% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Harpswell Community SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mt Ararat Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top high schools
- Mt Ararat High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 04003 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
04003 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 04003 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 04003
Is 04003 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 04003 ranks 1,581st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, health care access, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 04003 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $589,600. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $115,391 median income, cost of living beats 83% of zip codes.
Is 04003 safe?
Yes, 04003 is safer than 80% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $217 per resident a year.
Compare 04003 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 04003. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 04003 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.
04003 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 04003: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 04003: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 04003: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 04003: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
04003 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.