Best PlacesWest Baldwin, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Baldwin, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West Baldwin ranks 11,179th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Baldwin
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 Baldwin's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Baldwin ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of towns
Where West Baldwin ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,209 a month, better than only 13% of towns
- Short commute32.9 minutes each way, better than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Baldwin
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Baldwin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $67,991; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Baldwin's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 8 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 Baldwin
West Baldwin 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 Baldwin.
Who works in West Baldwin, and how
Work in West Baldwin centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in West Baldwin
The coast is about 46 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across West Baldwin, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Baldwin, month by month
West Baldwin sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 22° | 10° |
| April | 58° | 44° | 30° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 57° |
| October | 64° | 49° | 37° |
Flying in and out of West Baldwin
The nearest airport, Portland International Jetport, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 102 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Baldwin
Schools across West Baldwin average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sacopee Valley Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Stevens Brook SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sacopee Valley Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Lake Region Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
Top high schools
- Sacopee Valley High SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Lake Region High SchoolA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Baldwin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Baldwin 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 Baldwin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Baldwin
Is West Baldwin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Baldwin ranks 11,179th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and low crime, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Baldwin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $263,542. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $67,991 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is West Baldwin safe?
Yes, West Baldwin is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $157 per resident a year.
Compare West Baldwin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Baldwin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Baldwin 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 Baldwin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Baldwin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Baldwin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Baldwin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Baldwin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Baldwin 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.