Best PlacesAugusta, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Augusta, 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.
Augusta ranks 16,011th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Augusta
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.
Augusta's strengths and weaknesses
Where Augusta ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
Where Augusta ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of towns
- Household income$57,172 median, better than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Augusta
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Augusta home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $57,172; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Augusta's effective rate of 1.13%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Augusta
Augusta 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 Augusta.
Who works in Augusta, and how
Work in Augusta centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Augusta
Augusta has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of towns and more parkland per resident than 95% of towns. The coast is about 47 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Augusta and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Augusta, month by month
Augusta sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 15° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Augusta
The nearest airport, Augusta State, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 150 miles away.
The best schools in and around Augusta
Schools across Augusta average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- James H Bean SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Manchester Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Piscataquis Community ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
Top middle schools
- Messalonskee Middle SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Cony Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
Top high schools
- Maine Arts Academy SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Hall-dale Middle And High SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Messalonskee High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Augusta school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Augusta 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 Augusta against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Augusta suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Augusta
Is Augusta a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Augusta ranks 16,011th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and clean air, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Augusta expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,571. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $57,172 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Augusta safe?
Yes, Augusta is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $298 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Augusta?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 15. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of towns.
Is Augusta good for families?
Schools beat 98% of towns, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $1,035 a month.
Compare Augusta with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Augusta. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Augusta 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.
Augusta detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Augusta: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Augusta: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Augusta: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Augusta: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Augusta 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.