Best PlacesSouth Berwick, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Berwick, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
South Berwick ranks 1,086th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South Berwick
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.
South Berwick's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Berwick ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
Where South Berwick ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,184 a month, better than only 14% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Berwick
A household needs to earn about $114,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Berwick home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $105,116; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 South Berwick's effective rate of 1.16%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South Berwick
South Berwick's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South Berwick.
Who works in South Berwick, and how
Work in South Berwick centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in South Berwick
South Berwick has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of towns. The coast is about 18 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of South Berwick and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Berwick, month by month
South Berwick sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 27° | 18° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 35° |
| July | 87° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 66° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of South Berwick
The nearest airport, Portsmouth International at Pease, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Berwick
Schools across South Berwick average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Coastal Ridge ElementaryA+ · 93% proficient
- Eliot Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Marshwood Great Works SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
Top middle schools
- York Middle SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Noble Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Somersworth Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- York High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Marshwood High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Noble High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Berwick school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Berwick 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 South Berwick against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Berwick
Is South Berwick a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Berwick ranks 1,086th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Berwick expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $416,910. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $105,116 median income, cost of living beats 81% of towns.
Is South Berwick safe?
Yes, South Berwick is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $118 per resident a year.
Compare South Berwick with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Berwick. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Berwick 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.
South Berwick detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Berwick: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Berwick: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Berwick: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Berwick: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Berwick 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.