Best PlacesSouth Newcastle, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Newcastle, 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 Newcastle ranks 3,397th 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 Newcastle
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 Newcastle's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Newcastle 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 94% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
Where South Newcastle ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Newcastle
A household needs to earn about $97,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Newcastle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $104,106, 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 Newcastle'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 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 Newcastle
South Newcastle 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 Newcastle.
Who works in South Newcastle, and how
Work in South Newcastle centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in South Newcastle
The coast is about 24 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across South Newcastle, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Newcastle, month by month
South Newcastle sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 26° | 15° |
| April | 56° | 44° | 32° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of South Newcastle
The nearest airport, Augusta State, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 132 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Newcastle
Schools across South Newcastle average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Great Salt Bay Community SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Bristol Consolidated SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Whitefield Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top high schools
- Wiscasset Middle/high SchoolA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Newcastle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Newcastle 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 Newcastle against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Newcastle
Is South Newcastle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Newcastle ranks 3,397th 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 Newcastle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $360,599. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $104,106 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is South Newcastle safe?
Yes, South Newcastle is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $119 per resident a year.
Compare South Newcastle with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Newcastle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Newcastle 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 Newcastle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Newcastle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Newcastle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Newcastle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Newcastle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Newcastle 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.