Best Places04090, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 04090, 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.
04090 ranks 6,375th 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 04090
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.
04090's strengths and weaknesses
Where 04090 ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 04090 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,184 a month, better than only 21% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 04090
A household needs to earn about $140,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 04090 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $89,272, 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 04090's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 04090
04090 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 04090.
Who works in 04090, and how
Work in 04090 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 04090
04090 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 78% of zip codes. The coast is about 8 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 04090 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 04090, month by month
04090 sees roughly 61 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 04090
The nearest airport, Portsmouth International at Pease, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 69 miles away.
The best schools in and around 04090
Schools across 04090 average an A+, better than 99% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Wells Elementary SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wells Junior High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Top high schools
- Wells High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 04090 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
04090 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 04090 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 04090
Is 04090 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 04090 ranks 6,375th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and health care access, 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 04090 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $543,887. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $89,272 median income, cost of living beats 51% of zip codes.
Is 04090 safe?
Yes, 04090 is safer than 93% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $179 per resident a year.
Compare 04090 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 04090. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 04090 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.
04090 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 04090: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 04090: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 04090: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 04090: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
04090 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.