Best PlacesKennebec County, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kennebec County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kennebec County ranks 430th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on good schools and cheap car insurance. The weaker spots are an overheated housing market, state infrastructure, and childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in Kennebec County
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.
The best areas in Kennebec County
The parts of Kennebec County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Readfield & Manchester
Tree cover is thicker, it is quieter, and more adults hold degrees.
Vassalboro & South China
Crime runs lower, though more homes sit empty.
Monmouth, Winthrop & Litchfield
Incomes run higher, though prices have run up more.
Waterville & Winslow
Streets are more walkable, though fewer households have young kids.
Oakland
Fewer residents vote.
Gardiner & Farmingdale
Scores close to Oakland, except that health outcomes score lower here.
Augusta
Commutes are shorter, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Kennebec County run from about the 21st to the 97th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Kennebec County's strengths and weaknesses
Kennebec County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Good schools is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Cheap car insurance and low crime follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. An overheated housing market, state infrastructure, and childcare costs hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Kennebec County ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 92% of counties
Where Kennebec County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,035 a month, better than only 15% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 22% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kennebec County
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kennebec County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,327, 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 Kennebec County'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kennebec County
Kennebec County 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 Kennebec County.
Who works in Kennebec County, and how
Work in Kennebec County 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 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Kennebec County
The coast is about 49 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Kennebec County, which the map shows.
Is Kennebec County growing, and who is moving in?
Kennebec County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Somerset County, ME.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kennebec County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kennebec County, month by month
Kennebec County sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 15° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Kennebec County
The nearest airport, Augusta State, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 154 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kennebec County
Schools across Kennebec County average an A+, better than 99% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Williams Elementary SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- James H Bean SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Manchester Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Top middle schools
- Winthrop Middle SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Maranacook Community Middle SchA+ · 89% proficient
- China Middle SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Top high schools
- Maranacook Community High SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Winthrop High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Maine Arts Academy SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kennebec County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kennebec County 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 Kennebec County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Kennebec County suits
Common questions about living in Kennebec County
Is Kennebec County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kennebec County ranks 430th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and low crime, 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 Kennebec County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $247,359. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $73,327 median income, cost of living beats 39% of counties.
Is Kennebec County safe?
Yes, Kennebec County is safer than 97% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $210 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kennebec County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 15. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 29% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kennebec County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Readfield & Manchester, Vassalboro & South China, and Monmouth, Winthrop & Litchfield. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Kennebec County good for families?
Schools beat 100% of counties, crime safety beats 97%, and childcare runs $1,035 a month.
Is Kennebec County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 39% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 58% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Kennebec County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kennebec County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kennebec County 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.
Kennebec County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kennebec County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kennebec County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kennebec County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kennebec County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kennebec County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.