Best PlacesOcean Avenue, Portland, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ocean Avenue, Portland, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ocean Avenue, Portland ranks 464th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ocean Avenue, Portland
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.
Ocean Avenue, Portland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ocean Avenue, Portland ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
Where Ocean Avenue, Portland ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Ocean Avenue, Portland
A household needs to earn about $133,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ocean Avenue, Portland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $104,528, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Ocean Avenue, Portland's effective rate of 1.04%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ocean Avenue, Portland
Ocean Avenue, Portland 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 Ocean Avenue, Portland.
Who works in Ocean Avenue, Portland, and how
Work in Ocean Avenue, Portland centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 56%
- Work from home 38%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Ocean Avenue, Portland
Ocean Avenue, Portland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 8 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Ocean Avenue, Portland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ocean Avenue, Portland, month by month
Ocean Avenue, Portland sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 27° | 17° |
| April | 56° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Ocean Avenue, Portland
The nearest airport, Portland International Jetport, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ocean Avenue, Portland
Schools across Ocean Avenue, Portland average an A, better than 96% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Longfellow School-portlandA+ · 88% proficient
- Presumpscot SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Ocean AvenueA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lincoln Middle SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Lyman Moore Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- King Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ocean Avenue, Portland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ocean Avenue, Portland 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 Ocean Avenue, Portland against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Ocean Avenue, Portland
Is Ocean Avenue, Portland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ocean Avenue, Portland ranks 464th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, an educated workforce, and health care access, and lowest on state infrastructure and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ocean Avenue, Portland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $491,384. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $104,528 median income, cost of living beats 79% of neighborhoods.
Is Ocean Avenue, Portland safe?
Yes, Ocean Avenue, Portland is safer than 80% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $295 per resident a year.
Compare Ocean Avenue, Portland with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ocean Avenue, Portland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ocean Avenue, Portland 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.
Ocean Avenue, Portland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ocean Avenue, Portland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ocean Avenue, Portland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ocean Avenue, Portland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ocean Avenue, Portland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ocean Avenue, Portland 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.