Best PlacesHolden, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Holden, 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.
Holden ranks 2,112th 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 Holden
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.
Holden's strengths and weaknesses
Where Holden ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of towns
Where Holden ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Holden
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Holden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $96,305, 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 Holden's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Holden
Holden 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 Holden.
Who works in Holden, and how
Work in Holden 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 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Holden
The coast is about 37 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Holden, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Holden, month by month
Holden sees roughly 65 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 Holden
The nearest airport, Bangor International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 202 miles away.
The best schools in and around Holden
Schools across Holden average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dedham SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Holden SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Miles Lane SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Holbrook SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Bucksport Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Top high schools
- Orono High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- 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 Holden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Holden 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 Holden against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Holden
Is Holden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Holden ranks 2,112th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and low crime, and lowest on state infrastructure and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Holden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $324,954. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $96,305 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Holden safe?
Yes, Holden is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $138 per resident a year.
Compare Holden with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Holden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Holden 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.
Holden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Holden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Holden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Holden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Holden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Holden 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.