Best PlacesSomerset County, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Somerset 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.
Somerset County ranks 969th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Somerset 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 Somerset County
The parts of Somerset 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.
Madison & Norridgewock
Local pay stretches further and it is quieter.
Skowhegan, Fairfield & Pittsfield
Fewer homes sit empty, though tree cover is thinner.
St. Albans
Advertised internet is faster, though commutes are longer.
Scores across Somerset County run from about the 23rd to the 82nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Somerset County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Somerset County ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 97% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of counties
Where Somerset County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 22% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Somerset County
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Somerset County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,600, 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 Somerset County'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, 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 Somerset County
Somerset County 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 Somerset County.
Who works in Somerset County, and how
Work in Somerset County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Somerset County
Somerset County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of counties and more parkland per resident than 91% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Somerset County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Somerset County growing, and who is moving in?
Somerset County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kennebec County, ME.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Somerset County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Somerset County, month by month
Somerset County sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 32° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Somerset County
The nearest airport, Augusta State, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 182 miles away.
The best schools in and around Somerset County
Schools across Somerset County average an A+, better than 99% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Athens Community SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Williams Elementary SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Solon Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Top middle schools
- Messalonskee Middle SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Skowhegan Area Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Lawrence Jr High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top high schools
- Fort Kent Community High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Mt Blue High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Skowhegan Area High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Somerset County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Somerset 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 Somerset County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Somerset County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Somerset County
Is Somerset County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Somerset County ranks 969th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and low crime, 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 Somerset County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,367. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $59,600 median income, cost of living beats 22% of counties.
Is Somerset County safe?
Yes, Somerset County is safer than 97% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $205 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Somerset County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 13. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 32% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Somerset County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Madison & Norridgewock, Skowhegan, Fairfield & Pittsfield, and St. Albans. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Somerset County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Somerset County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Somerset 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.
Somerset County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Somerset County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Somerset County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Somerset County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Somerset County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Somerset 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.