Best PlacesOxford County, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Oxford County, 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.
Oxford County ranks 988th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Oxford County
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.
The best areas in Oxford County
The parts of Oxford County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
South Paris
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more households have young kids.
Oxford
Fewer homes sit empty and prices have run up less.
Rumford, Mexico & Dixfield
Homes cost less and commutes are shorter.
Fryeburg
Crime runs lower and big-city amenities are closer.
Scores across Oxford County run from about the 16th to the 89th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Oxford County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oxford County ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 97% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of counties
Where Oxford County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Oxford County
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oxford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,525, 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 Oxford County's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 Oxford County
Oxford County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oxford County.
Who works in Oxford County, and how
Work in Oxford County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Oxford County
Oxford County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Oxford County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Oxford County growing, and who is moving in?
Oxford County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Portland, OR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Oxford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Oxford County, month by month
Oxford County sees roughly 66 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 Oxford County
The nearest airport, Augusta State, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 134 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oxford County
Schools across Oxford County average an A+, better than 99% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- New Suncook SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Stratton Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Woodstock SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Top middle schools
- Telstar Middle SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Sacopee Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Spruce Mountain Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top high schools
- Dirigo High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Oxford Hills Comprehensive H SA+ · 90% proficient
- Mt Abram Regional High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oxford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oxford County 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 Oxford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Oxford County suits
Common questions about living in Oxford County
Is Oxford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oxford County ranks 988th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and tree cover, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oxford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $223,393. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $65,525 median income, cost of living beats 27% of counties.
Is Oxford County safe?
Yes, Oxford County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $224 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oxford County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 12. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 14% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Oxford County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are South Paris, Oxford, and Rumford, Mexico & Dixfield. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Oxford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oxford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oxford County 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.
Oxford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oxford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oxford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oxford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oxford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oxford County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.