Best PlacesSouth Portland, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Portland, 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 Portland ranks 272nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in South Portland
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.
The best areas in South Portland
The parts of South Portland, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Stanwood Park
Broadview Park
Ferry Village & Fort Preble
Knightville-Pleasantdale
Thornton Heights & Sunset Park
Scores across South Portland run from about the 60th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
South Portland's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Portland ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of cities
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of cities
- Short commute17.2 minutes each way, better than 96% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 92% of cities
Where South Portland ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 17% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 23% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in South Portland
A household needs to earn about $126,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Portland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $92,573, 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 Portland's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 Portland
South Portland's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Portland.
Who works in South Portland, and how
Work in South Portland centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in South Portland
South Portland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of cities and more parkland per resident than 94% of cities. The coast is about 5 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of South Portland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Portland, month by month
South Portland 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 Portland
The nearest airport, Portland International Jetport, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Portland
Schools across South Portland average an A+, better than 99% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Pond Cove ElementaryA+ · 98% proficient
- Dora L Small Elementary SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Wentworth SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cape Elizabeth Middle SchoolA+ · 97% proficient
- Daniel F. Mahoney Middle SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Scarborough Middle SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
Top high schools
- Cape Elizabeth High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- South Portland High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Scarborough High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Portland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Portland 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 Portland against the other 2,097 cities.
Who South Portland suits
Common questions about living in South Portland
Is South Portland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Portland ranks 272nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and clean air, and lowest on state infrastructure and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Portland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $470,930. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $92,573 median income, cost of living beats 48% of cities.
Is South Portland safe?
Yes, South Portland is safer than 66% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in South Portland?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 17. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 32% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in South Portland?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Stanwood Park, Broadview Park, and Ferry Village & Fort Preble. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare South Portland with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Portland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Portland 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 Portland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Portland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Portland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Portland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Portland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Portland 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.