Best PlacesSouth Lubec, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Lubec, 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.
South Lubec ranks 18,616th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in South Lubec
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 Lubec's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Lubec ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
Where South Lubec ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Lubec
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Lubec home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,432, 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 Lubec's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 Lubec
South Lubec 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 Lubec.
Who works in South Lubec, and how
Work in South Lubec centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in South Lubec
The coast is about 11 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across South Lubec, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Lubec, month by month
South Lubec sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 53° | 42° | 32° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 58° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of South Lubec
The nearest airport, Hancock County/Bar Harbor, is about 71 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 262 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Lubec
Schools across South Lubec average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lubec Consolidated SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
Top high schools
- Shead High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Lubec school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Lubec 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 Lubec against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Lubec
Is South Lubec a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Lubec ranks 18,616th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and quiet, 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 South Lubec expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,800. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $59,432 median income, cost of living beats 18% of towns.
Is South Lubec safe?
Yes, South Lubec is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $234 per resident a year.
Compare South Lubec with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Lubec. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Lubec 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 Lubec detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Lubec: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Lubec: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Lubec: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Lubec: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Lubec 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.