Best PlacesParkside, Portland, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Parkside, Portland, 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.
Parkside, Portland ranks 1,086th 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 Parkside, 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.
Parkside, Portland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Parkside, Portland ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
Where Parkside, Portland ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 24% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 24% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Parkside, Portland
A household needs to earn about $175,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Parkside, Portland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $68,134, 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 Parkside, Portland's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 Parkside, Portland
Parkside, Portland runs younger 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 Parkside, Portland.
Who works in Parkside, Portland, and how
Work in Parkside, Portland centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 46%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 36%
Life in Parkside, Portland
Parkside, Portland has more parkland per resident than 88% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 6 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Parkside, Portland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Parkside, Portland, month by month
Parkside, 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 Parkside, Portland
The nearest airport, Portland International Jetport, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around Parkside, Portland
Schools across Parkside, Portland average an A, better than 92% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Ocean AvenueA+ · 75% proficient
- Howard C Reiche Community SchA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- King Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Parkside, Portland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Parkside, 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 Parkside, Portland against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Parkside, Portland
Is Parkside, Portland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Parkside, Portland ranks 1,086th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, walkability, and transit, and lowest on state infrastructure and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Parkside, Portland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $644,639. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $68,134 median income, cost of living beats 24% of neighborhoods.
Is Parkside, Portland safe?
Yes, Parkside, Portland is safer than 83% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $282 per resident a year.
Compare Parkside, Portland with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Parkside, Portland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Parkside, 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.
Parkside, Portland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Parkside, Portland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Parkside, Portland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Parkside, Portland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Parkside, Portland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Parkside, 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.