Best PlacesDedham, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dedham, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dedham ranks 1,443rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dedham
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.
Dedham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dedham ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of towns
Where Dedham ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of towns
- Short commute35.2 minutes each way, better than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dedham
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dedham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $106,093, 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 Dedham's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dedham
Dedham runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dedham.
Who works in Dedham, and how
Work in Dedham centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Dedham
The coast is about 37 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Dedham, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Dedham, month by month
Dedham sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 23° | 12° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 32° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Dedham
The nearest airport, Bangor International, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 201 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dedham
Schools across Dedham average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dedham SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Top high schools
- Brewer High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Bucksport High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dedham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dedham 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 Dedham against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dedham
Is Dedham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dedham ranks 1,443rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, civic engagement, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on biking and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dedham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $324,495. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $106,093 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Dedham safe?
Yes, Dedham is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $131 per resident a year.
Compare Dedham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dedham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dedham 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.
Dedham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dedham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dedham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dedham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dedham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dedham 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.