Best PlacesChina, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around China, 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.
China ranks 4,247th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in China
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.
China's strengths and weaknesses
Where China ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
Where China ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,035 a month, better than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in China
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median China home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,656, 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 China's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 China
China 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 China.
Who works in China, and how
Work in China centers on education and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in China
The coast is about 42 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across China, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in China, month by month
China sees roughly 75 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 China
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 161 miles away.
The best schools in and around China
Schools across China average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- China Primary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Albion Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- China Middle SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Lawrence Jr High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top high schools
- Messalonskee High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Lawrence High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every China school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
China 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 China against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in China
Is China a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, China ranks 4,247th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, low crime, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on state infrastructure and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is China expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,350. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $88,656 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is China safe?
Yes, China is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $127 per resident a year.
Compare China with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to China. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in China 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.
China detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for China: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in China: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of China: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in China: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
China 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.