Best Places04918, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 04918, 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.
04918 ranks 6,159th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 04918
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.
04918's strengths and weaknesses
Where 04918 ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of zip codes
Where 04918 ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% 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
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 04918
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 04918 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $62,456, 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 04918's effective rate of 0.97%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 04918
04918 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 04918.
Who works in 04918, and how
Work in 04918 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 04918
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 04918.
What the weather is like in 04918, month by month
04918 sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 32° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 04918
The nearest airport, Augusta State, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 160 miles away.
The best schools in and around 04918
Schools across 04918 average an A+, better than 99% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Belgrade Central SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Messalonskee Middle SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
Top high schools
- Messalonskee High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 04918 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
04918 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 04918 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 04918
Is 04918 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 04918 ranks 6,159th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and tree cover, and lowest on cell coverage 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 04918 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $358,500. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $62,456 median income, cost of living beats 13% of zip codes.
Is 04918 safe?
Yes, 04918 is safer than 95% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $158 per resident a year.
Compare 04918 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 04918. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 04918 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.
04918 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 04918: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 04918: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 04918: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 04918: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
04918 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.