Best PlacesNorth Jay, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Jay, 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.
North Jay ranks 4,414th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Jay
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.
North Jay's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Jay ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute16.3 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
Where North Jay ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Jay
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Jay home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $83,017; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 North Jay's effective rate of 0.72%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in North Jay
North Jay 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 North Jay.
Who works in North Jay, and how
Work in North Jay centers on manufacturing and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in North Jay
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across North Jay.
What the weather is like in North Jay, month by month
North Jay sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 75 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 17° | 10° |
| April | 46° | 38° | 30° |
| July | 75° | 66° | 58° |
| October | 54° | 46° | 39° |
Flying in and out of North Jay
The nearest airport, Augusta State, is about 57 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 190 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Jay
Schools across North Jay average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Stratton Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Meroby Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mountain Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
Top high schools
- Mt Abram Regional High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Upper Kennebec Valley Middle/senior High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Mountain Valley High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Jay school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Jay 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 North Jay against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Jay
Is North Jay a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Jay ranks 4,414th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, an educated workforce, and cheap car insurance, 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 North Jay expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $333,914. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $83,017 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is North Jay safe?
Yes, North Jay is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $240 per resident a year.
Compare North Jay with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Jay. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Jay 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.
North Jay detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Jay: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Jay: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Jay: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Jay: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Jay 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.