Best PlacesUpper Abbot, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Upper Abbot, 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.
Upper Abbot ranks 12,961st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Upper Abbot
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.
Upper Abbot's strengths and weaknesses
Where Upper Abbot ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of towns
Where Upper Abbot ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Upper Abbot
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Upper Abbot home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,426, 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 Upper Abbot's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Upper Abbot
Upper Abbot 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 Upper Abbot.
Who works in Upper Abbot, and how
Work in Upper Abbot centers on manufacturing and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Upper Abbot
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Upper Abbot.
What the weather is like in Upper Abbot, month by month
Upper Abbot sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 17° | 9° |
| April | 50° | 38° | 29° |
| July | 79° | 67° | 58° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Upper Abbot
The nearest airport, Bangor International, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 210 miles away.
The best schools in and around Upper Abbot
Schools across Upper Abbot average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Piscataquis Community ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Se Do Mo Cha Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Se Do Mo Cha Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Top high schools
- Piscataquis Community Secondary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Upper Abbot school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Upper Abbot 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 Upper Abbot against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Upper Abbot
Is Upper Abbot a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Upper Abbot ranks 12,961st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on cell coverage and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Upper Abbot expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $171,516. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $58,426 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Upper Abbot safe?
Yes, Upper Abbot is safer than 100% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $112 per resident a year.
Compare Upper Abbot with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Upper Abbot. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Upper Abbot 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.
Upper Abbot detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Upper Abbot: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Upper Abbot: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Upper Abbot: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Upper Abbot: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Upper Abbot 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.