Best Places04686, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 04686, 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.
04686 ranks 20,801st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 04686
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.
04686's strengths and weaknesses
Where 04686 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of zip codes
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 04686 ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 04686
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 04686 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,841, 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 04686's effective rate of 0.67%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 04686
04686 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 04686.
Who works in 04686, and how
Work in 04686 centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 04686
The coast is about 43 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 04686, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 04686, month by month
04686 sees roughly 76 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 04686
The nearest airport, Hancock County/Bar Harbor, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 244 miles away.
The best schools in and around 04686
Schools across 04686 average an A+, better than 98% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Wesley Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Princeton Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Alexander ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Old Town High SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Woodland Jr-sr High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Shead High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 04686 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
04686 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 04686 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 04686
Is 04686 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 04686 ranks 20,801st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, tree cover, and good schools, and lowest on internet speeds 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 04686 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,604. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $55,841 median income, cost of living beats 22% of zip codes.
Is 04686 safe?
Yes, 04686 is safer than 71% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $246 per resident a year.
Compare 04686 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 04686. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 04686 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.
04686 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 04686: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 04686: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 04686: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 04686: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
04686 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.