Best PlacesWest Athens, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Athens, 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.
West Athens ranks 18,584th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Athens
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.
West Athens' strengths and weaknesses
Where West Athens ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
Where West Athens ranks low
- Short commute48.2 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Athens
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Athens home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,066, 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 West Athens' effective rate of 0.90%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West Athens
West Athens 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 West Athens.
Who works in West Athens, and how
Work in West Athens centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in West Athens
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Athens.
What the weather is like in West Athens, month by month
West Athens sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 13° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 32° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 40° |
Flying in and out of West Athens
The nearest airport, Augusta State, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 189 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Athens
Schools across West Athens average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Athens Community SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Solon Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Carrabec Community SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top high schools
- Carrabec High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Upper Kennebec Valley Middle/senior High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Athens school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Athens 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 West Athens against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Athens
Is West Athens a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Athens ranks 18,584th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, fast internet, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on long commutes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Athens expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $177,036. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $66,066 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is West Athens safe?
Yes, West Athens is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $153 per resident a year.
Compare West Athens with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Athens. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Athens 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.
West Athens detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Athens: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Athens: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Athens: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Athens: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Athens 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.