Best Places04617, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 04617, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
04617 ranks 14,669th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 04617
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.
04617's strengths and weaknesses
Where 04617 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 94% of zip codes
Where 04617 ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 04617
A household needs to earn about $100,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 04617 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $56,335, 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 04617'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 04617
04617 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 04617.
Who works in 04617, and how
Work in 04617 centers on agriculture & forestry and education. 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 6%
Life in 04617
The coast is about 11 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 04617, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 04617, month by month
04617 sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 53° | 42° | 32° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 58° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 04617
The nearest airport, Hancock County/Bar Harbor, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 180 miles away.
The best schools in and around 04617
Schools across 04617 average an A, better than 94% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Brooksville Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Deer Isle-stonington High SchA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 04617 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
04617 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 04617 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 04617
Is 04617 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 04617 ranks 14,669th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, civic engagement, and quiet, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 04617 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $390,825. The overall cost of living runs about 24% above the national average. Set against a $56,335 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 04617 safe?
Yes, 04617 is safer than 70% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $249 per resident a year.
Compare 04617 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 04617. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 04617 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.
04617 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 04617: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 04617: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 04617: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 04617: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
04617 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.