Best PlacesNorth Palermo, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Palermo, 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.
North Palermo ranks 11,220th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in North Palermo
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 Palermo's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Palermo ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of towns
Where North Palermo ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Palermo
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Palermo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,504, 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 North Palermo's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 North Palermo
North Palermo 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 Palermo.
Who works in North Palermo, and how
Work in North Palermo centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in North Palermo
The coast is about 37 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across North Palermo, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Palermo, month by month
North Palermo sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 32° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 40° |
Flying in and out of North Palermo
The nearest airport, Augusta State, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Palermo
Schools across North Palermo average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- China Primary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Windsor Elementary SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Albion Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- China Middle SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Lawrence Jr High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Mt View Middle SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
Top high schools
- Messalonskee High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Winslow High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Mt View High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Palermo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Palermo 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 Palermo against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Palermo
Is North Palermo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Palermo ranks 11,220th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and low crime, and lowest on cell coverage 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 Palermo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $231,292. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $75,504 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is North Palermo safe?
Yes, North Palermo is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $171 per resident a year.
Compare North Palermo with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Palermo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Palermo 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 Palermo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Palermo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Palermo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Palermo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Palermo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Palermo 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.