Best PlacesNorth Waterford, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Waterford, 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 Waterford ranks 7,249th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Waterford
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 Waterford's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Waterford ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
Where North Waterford ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Waterford
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Waterford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,503, 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 Waterford's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 North Waterford
North Waterford runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for North Waterford.
Who works in North Waterford, and how
Work in North Waterford centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in North Waterford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across North Waterford.
What the weather is like in North Waterford, month by month
North Waterford sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 22° | 10° |
| April | 58° | 44° | 30° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 57° |
| October | 64° | 49° | 37° |
Flying in and out of North Waterford
The nearest airport, Portland International Jetport, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 126 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Waterford
Schools across North Waterford average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- New Suncook SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Molly Ockett SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Harrison ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Telstar Middle SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Oxford Hills Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Lake Region Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
Top high schools
- Oxford Hills Comprehensive H SA+ · 90% proficient
- Telstar High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Lake Region High SchoolA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Waterford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Waterford 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 Waterford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Waterford
Is North Waterford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Waterford ranks 7,249th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and low crime, and lowest on an overheated housing market and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Waterford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $309,525. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $88,503 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is North Waterford safe?
Yes, North Waterford is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $150 per resident a year.
Compare North Waterford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Waterford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Waterford 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 Waterford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Waterford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Waterford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Waterford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Waterford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Waterford 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.