Best PlacesSouth Durham, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Durham, 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 Durham ranks 440th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in South Durham
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 Durham's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Durham ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Household income$145,357 median, better than 97% of towns
Where South Durham ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,229 a month, better than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Durham
A household needs to earn about $204,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Durham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $145,357, 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 South Durham's effective rate of 0.94%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in South Durham
South Durham runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South Durham.
Who works in South Durham, and how
Work in South Durham centers on retail trade and professional & technical. 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 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in South Durham
The coast is about 30 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across South Durham, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Durham, month by month
South Durham 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 South Durham
The nearest airport, Portland International Jetport, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Durham
Schools across South Durham average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mast Landing SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
Top middle schools
- Freeport Middle SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Top high schools
- Freeport High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Durham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Durham 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 Durham against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Durham
Is South Durham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Durham ranks 440th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and what local pay buys, and lowest on cell coverage 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 South Durham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $766,400. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $145,357 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is South Durham safe?
Yes, South Durham is safer than 83% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $203 per resident a year.
Compare South Durham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Durham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Durham 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 Durham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Durham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Durham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Durham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Durham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Durham 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.