Best Places04655, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 04655, 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.
04655 ranks 19,728th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 04655
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.
04655's strengths and weaknesses
Where 04655 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 04655 ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- 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
- WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 04655
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 04655 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,927, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 04655's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 04655
04655 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 04655.
Who works in 04655, and how
Work in 04655 centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 04655
The coast is about 9 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 04655, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 04655, month by month
04655 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 04655
The nearest airport, Hancock County/Bar Harbor, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 241 miles away.
The best schools in and around 04655
Schools across 04655 average a B, better than 71% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Rose M Gaffney SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Fort O'brien SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Machias Memorial High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 04655 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
04655 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 04655 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 04655
Is 04655 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 04655 ranks 19,728th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, quiet, and clean air, and lowest on distance from a big city 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 04655 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,825. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $59,927 median income, cost of living beats 18% of zip codes.
Is 04655 safe?
Yes, 04655 is safer than 70% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $245 per resident a year.
Compare 04655 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 04655. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 04655 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.
04655 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 04655: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 04655: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 04655: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 04655: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
04655 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.