Best PlacesEast Machias, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Machias, 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 Machias ranks 16,212th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in East Machias
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 Machias' strengths and weaknesses
Where East Machias ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute18.9 minutes each way, better than 91% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
Where East Machias ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,048 a month, better than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in East Machias
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Machias home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,158, 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 East Machias' effective rate of 0.88%, 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 East Machias
East Machias 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 East Machias.
Who works in East Machias, and how
Work in East Machias centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in East Machias
The coast is about 19 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across East Machias, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Machias, month by month
East Machias sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 53° | 42° | 32° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 58° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of East Machias
The nearest airport, Hancock County/Bar Harbor, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 245 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Machias
Schools across East Machias average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Elm Street School-east MachiasA+ · 83% proficient
- Whiting Village SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- Machias Memorial High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Machias school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Machias 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 Machias against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in East Machias
Is East Machias a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Machias ranks 16,212th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and clean air, and lowest on distance from a big city 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 East Machias expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $210,171. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $57,158 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is East Machias safe?
Yes, East Machias is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $219 per resident a year.
Compare East Machias with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Machias. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Machias 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 Machias detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Machias: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Machias: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Machias: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Machias: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Machias 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.