Best PlacesIsland Falls, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Island Falls, 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.
Island Falls ranks 23,678th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Island Falls
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.
Island Falls' strengths and weaknesses
Where Island Falls ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 80% of towns
Where Island Falls ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 9% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Island Falls
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Island Falls home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,973, 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 Island Falls' effective rate of 1.15%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Island Falls
Island Falls 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 Island Falls.
Who works in Island Falls, and how
Work in Island Falls centers on retail trade and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Island Falls
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Island Falls.
What the weather is like in Island Falls, month by month
Island Falls sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 18° | 7° |
| April | 52° | 40° | 28° |
| July | 82° | 68° | 55° |
| October | 60° | 48° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Island Falls
The nearest airport, Presque Isle International, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 285 miles away.
The best schools in and around Island Falls
Schools across Island Falls average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Katahdin Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Katahdin Middle/high SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Island Falls school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Island Falls 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 Island Falls against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Island Falls
Is Island Falls a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Island Falls ranks 23,678th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and clean air, and lowest on distance from a big city and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Island Falls expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $114,382. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $54,973 median income, cost of living beats 25% of towns.
Is Island Falls safe?
Yes, Island Falls is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $231 per resident a year.
Compare Island Falls with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Island Falls. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Island Falls 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.
Island Falls detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Island Falls: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Island Falls: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Island Falls: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Island Falls: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Island Falls 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.