Best PlacesNew Sweden, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Sweden, 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.
New Sweden ranks 11,188th 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 New Sweden
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.
New Sweden's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Sweden ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
Where New Sweden ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter 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 New Sweden
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Sweden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,942, 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 New Sweden's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in New Sweden
New Sweden runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New Sweden.
Who works in New Sweden, and how
Work in New Sweden centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in New Sweden
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across New Sweden.
What the weather is like in New Sweden, month by month
New Sweden sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 16° | 6° |
| April | 51° | 39° | 28° |
| July | 82° | 68° | 56° |
| October | 59° | 47° | 37° |
Flying in and out of New Sweden
The nearest airport, Presque Isle International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 348 miles away.
The best schools in and around New Sweden
Schools across New Sweden average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Woodland Consolidated SchA+ · 78% proficient
- Dawn F Barnes Elementary SchA+ · 75% proficient
- Connor Consolidated SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- Caribou High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Van Buren District Secondary SchA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Sweden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Sweden 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 New Sweden against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New Sweden
Is New Sweden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Sweden ranks 11,188th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and low crime, and lowest on distance from a big city and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New Sweden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $166,634. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $60,942 median income, cost of living beats 23% of towns.
Is New Sweden safe?
Yes, New Sweden is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $130 per resident a year.
Compare New Sweden with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Sweden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Sweden 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.
New Sweden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Sweden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Sweden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Sweden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Sweden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Sweden 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.