Best PlacesWest Boothbay Harbor, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Boothbay Harbor, 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 Boothbay Harbor ranks 7,997th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Boothbay Harbor
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 Boothbay Harbor's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Boothbay Harbor ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
Where West Boothbay Harbor ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute40.9 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Boothbay Harbor
A household needs to earn about $122,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Boothbay Harbor home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $98,264, 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 West Boothbay Harbor's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 West Boothbay Harbor
West Boothbay Harbor 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 Boothbay Harbor.
Who works in West Boothbay Harbor, and how
Work in West Boothbay Harbor centers on construction and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in West Boothbay Harbor
The coast is about 10 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across West Boothbay Harbor, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Boothbay Harbor, month by month
West Boothbay Harbor sees roughly 74 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 West Boothbay Harbor
The nearest airport, Knox County Regional, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Boothbay Harbor
Schools across West Boothbay Harbor average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Southport Central SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Boothbay Region Elem SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
Top high schools
- Boothbay Region High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Boothbay Harbor school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Boothbay Harbor 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 Boothbay Harbor against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Boothbay Harbor
Is West Boothbay Harbor a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Boothbay Harbor ranks 7,997th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on an overheated housing market and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Boothbay Harbor expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $476,486. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $98,264 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is West Boothbay Harbor safe?
Yes, West Boothbay Harbor is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $200 per resident a year.
Compare West Boothbay Harbor with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Boothbay Harbor. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Boothbay Harbor 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 Boothbay Harbor detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Boothbay Harbor: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Boothbay Harbor: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Boothbay Harbor: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Boothbay Harbor: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Boothbay Harbor 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.