Best PlacesPresque Isle, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Presque Isle, 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.
Presque Isle ranks 9,779th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Presque Isle
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.
Presque Isle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Presque Isle ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.8 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
Where Presque Isle ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- Household income$60,819 median, better than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Presque Isle
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Presque Isle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,819, 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 Presque Isle's effective rate of 1.34%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Presque Isle
Presque Isle 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 Presque Isle.
Who works in Presque Isle, and how
Work in Presque Isle centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Presque Isle
Presque Isle has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of towns and more parkland per resident than 95% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Presque Isle and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Presque Isle, month by month
Presque Isle sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 4. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 16° | 4° |
| April | 51° | 39° | 27° |
| July | 81° | 68° | 55° |
| October | 58° | 47° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Presque Isle
The nearest airport, Presque Isle International, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 333 miles away.
The best schools in and around Presque Isle
Schools across Presque Isle average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eva Hoyt Zippel SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Washburn District Elem SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- Presque Isle Middle SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
Top high schools
- Washburn District High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Presque Isle High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Presque Isle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Presque Isle 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 Presque Isle against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Presque Isle
Is Presque Isle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Presque Isle ranks 9,779th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Presque Isle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,353. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $60,819 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Presque Isle safe?
Yes, Presque Isle is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $260 per resident a year.
Compare Presque Isle with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Presque Isle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Presque Isle 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.
Presque Isle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Presque Isle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Presque Isle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Presque Isle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Presque Isle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Presque Isle 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.