Best PlacesEast Deering, Portland, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Deering, Portland, 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.
East Deering, Portland ranks 1,408th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods 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 East Deering, Portland
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.
East Deering, Portland's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Deering, Portland ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA+, better than 97% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
Where East Deering, Portland ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in East Deering, Portland
A household needs to earn about $119,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Deering, Portland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $97,561, 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 East Deering, Portland's effective rate of 1.08%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in East Deering, Portland
East Deering, Portland runs younger 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 East Deering, Portland.
Who works in East Deering, Portland, and how
Work in East Deering, Portland centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in East Deering, Portland
East Deering, Portland has more parkland per resident than 90% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 8 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of East Deering, Portland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Deering, Portland, month by month
East Deering, Portland sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 27° | 17° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of East Deering, Portland
The nearest airport, Portland International Jetport, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Deering, Portland
Schools across East Deering, Portland average an A+, better than 97% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Presumpscot SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lyman Moore Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Deering, Portland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Deering, Portland 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 East Deering, Portland against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in East Deering, Portland
Is East Deering, Portland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Deering, Portland ranks 1,408th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and state finances, 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 East Deering, Portland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $437,134. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $97,561 median income, cost of living beats 67% of neighborhoods.
Is East Deering, Portland safe?
Yes, East Deering, Portland is safer than 87% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $253 per resident a year.
Compare East Deering, Portland with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Deering, Portland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Deering, Portland 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.
East Deering, Portland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Deering, Portland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Deering, Portland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Deering, Portland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Deering, Portland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Deering, Portland 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.