Best PlacesSouth Lincoln, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Lincoln, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
South Lincoln ranks 16,868th 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 South Lincoln
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 Lincoln's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Lincoln ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of towns
Where South Lincoln ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Lincoln
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Lincoln home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,545, 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 South Lincoln's effective rate of 1.21%, 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 South Lincoln
South Lincoln 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 South Lincoln.
Who works in South Lincoln, and how
Work in South Lincoln centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in South Lincoln
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across South Lincoln.
What the weather is like in South Lincoln, month by month
South Lincoln sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 19° | 10° |
| April | 54° | 41° | 30° |
| July | 83° | 70° | 58° |
| October | 61° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of South Lincoln
The nearest airport, Bangor International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 239 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Lincoln
Schools across South Lincoln average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Enfield Station Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Ella P Burr SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hichborn Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Mattanawcook Jr High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Top high schools
- Penobscot Valley High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Mattanawcook AcademyA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Lincoln school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Lincoln 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 Lincoln against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Lincoln
Is South Lincoln a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Lincoln ranks 16,868th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and tree cover, and lowest on distance from a big city and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Lincoln expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $208,335. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $67,545 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is South Lincoln safe?
Yes, South Lincoln is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $177 per resident a year.
Compare South Lincoln with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Lincoln. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Lincoln 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 Lincoln detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Lincoln: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Lincoln: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Lincoln: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Lincoln: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Lincoln 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.