Best PlacesNorway Lake, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Norway Lake, 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.
Norway Lake ranks 14,102nd 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 Norway Lake
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.
Norway Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Norway Lake ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
Where Norway Lake ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Norway Lake
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norway Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,818, 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 Norway Lake's effective rate of 0.97%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Norway Lake
Norway Lake 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 Norway Lake.
Who works in Norway Lake, and how
Work in Norway Lake centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Norway Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Norway Lake.
What the weather is like in Norway Lake, month by month
Norway Lake sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 12° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 70° | 58° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Norway Lake
The nearest airport, Portland International Jetport, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Norway Lake
Schools across Norway Lake average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oxford Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Guy E Rowe SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oxford Hills Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
Top high schools
- Oxford Hills Comprehensive H SA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norway Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norway Lake 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 Norway Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Norway Lake
Is Norway Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norway Lake ranks 14,102nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and tree cover, 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 Norway Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,553. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $70,818 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Norway Lake safe?
Yes, Norway Lake is safer than 67% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
Compare Norway Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norway Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norway Lake 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.
Norway Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norway Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norway Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norway Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norway Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norway Lake 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.