Best PlacesAndroscoggin County, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Androscoggin County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Androscoggin County ranks 453rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 42 minutes away. Its strengths are good schools and cheap car insurance. The cost shows up in state infrastructure, an overheated housing market, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Androscoggin County
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.
The best areas in Androscoggin County
The parts of Androscoggin County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Lisbon, Lisbon Falls & Durham
It is quieter, fewer homes sit empty, and more residents vote.
Turner & Minot
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer households have young kids.
Poland
Local pay stretches further, though streets are more car-dependent.
Auburn & Mechanic Falls
Commutes are shorter.
Greene
Scores close to Auburn & Mechanic Falls, except that homes cost less here.
Lewiston
Biking is better, though incomes run lower.
Scores across Androscoggin County run from about the 21st to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Androscoggin County's strengths and weaknesses
Androscoggin County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Good schools is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Cheap car insurance and low crime follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. State infrastructure, an overheated housing market, and the weather hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Androscoggin County ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 87% of counties
Where Androscoggin County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of counties
- Cheap childcare$979 a month, better than only 18% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Androscoggin County
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Androscoggin County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,289, 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 Androscoggin County's effective rate of 1.20%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Androscoggin County
Androscoggin County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Androscoggin County.
Who works in Androscoggin County, and how
Work in Androscoggin County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Androscoggin County
Androscoggin County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less late-night activity than most counties. The coast is about 42 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Androscoggin County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Androscoggin County growing, and who is moving in?
Androscoggin County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Portland, OR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Androscoggin County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Androscoggin County, month by month
Androscoggin County sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 12° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 70° | 58° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Androscoggin County
The nearest airport, Augusta State, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Androscoggin County
Schools across Androscoggin County average an A+, better than 99% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Durham Community SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Wayne Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- East Auburn Community SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Top middle schools
- Freeport Middle SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Winthrop Middle SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Tripp Middle SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
Top high schools
- Maranacook Community High SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Lisbon High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Freeport High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Androscoggin County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Androscoggin County 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 Androscoggin County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Androscoggin County suits
Common questions about living in Androscoggin County
Is Androscoggin County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Androscoggin County ranks 453rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and low crime, and lowest on state infrastructure 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 Androscoggin County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $256,261. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $73,289 median income, cost of living beats 45% of counties.
Is Androscoggin County safe?
Yes, Androscoggin County is safer than 96% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $212 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Androscoggin County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 12. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Androscoggin County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lisbon, Lisbon Falls & Durham, Turner & Minot, and Poland. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Androscoggin County good for families?
Schools beat 99% of counties, crime safety beats 96%, and childcare runs $979 a month.
Is Androscoggin County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 45% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 56% of counties. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Androscoggin County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Androscoggin County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Androscoggin County 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.
Androscoggin County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Androscoggin County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Androscoggin County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Androscoggin County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Androscoggin County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Androscoggin County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.