Best PlacesWest Buxton, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Buxton, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West Buxton ranks 1,900th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Buxton
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 Buxton's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Buxton ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of towns
Where West Buxton ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,187 a month, better than only 14% of towns
- Short commute34.5 minutes each way, better than only 15% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 28% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Buxton
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Buxton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $100,968, 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 Buxton's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 9 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 Buxton
West Buxton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Buxton.
Who works in West Buxton, and how
Work in West Buxton centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in West Buxton
The coast is about 24 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across West Buxton, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Buxton, month by month
West Buxton 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 West Buxton
The nearest airport, Portland International Jetport, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Buxton
Schools across West Buxton average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Edna Libby Elementary SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Steep Falls Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- George E Jack SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bonny Eagle Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top high schools
- Bonny Eagle High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Buxton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Buxton 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 Buxton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Buxton
Is West Buxton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Buxton ranks 1,900th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on state infrastructure and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Buxton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $348,923. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $100,968 median income, cost of living beats 80% of towns.
Is West Buxton safe?
Yes, West Buxton is safer than 100% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $111 per resident a year.
Compare West Buxton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Buxton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Buxton 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 Buxton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Buxton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Buxton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Buxton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Buxton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Buxton 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.