Best Places04431, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 04431, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
04431 ranks 11,286th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 04431
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.
04431's strengths and weaknesses
Where 04431 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of zip codes
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 04431 ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter 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 04431
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 04431 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $63,438; 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 04431's effective rate of 0.78%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 04431
04431 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 04431.
Who works in 04431, and how
Work in 04431 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 04431
The coast is about 18 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 04431, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 04431, month by month
04431 sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 23° | 12° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 32° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 04431
The nearest airport, Hancock County/Bar Harbor, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 192 miles away.
The best schools in and around 04431
Schools across 04431 average an A+, better than 99% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Miles Lane SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bucksport Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Top high schools
- Bucksport High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 04431 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
04431 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 04431 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 04431
Is 04431 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 04431 ranks 11,286th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on biking and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 04431 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $269,000. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $63,438 median income, cost of living beats 47% of zip codes.
Is 04431 safe?
Yes, 04431 is safer than 88% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $189 per resident a year.
Compare 04431 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 04431. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 04431 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.
04431 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 04431: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 04431: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 04431: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 04431: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
04431 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.