Best PlacesWest Mills, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Mills, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West Mills ranks 13,552nd 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 West Mills
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 Mills' strengths and weaknesses
Where West Mills ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
Where West Mills ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of towns
- Short commute38.8 minutes each way, better than only 7% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Mills
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Mills home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,234, 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 Mills' 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 6 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 Mills
West Mills's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Mills.
Who works in West Mills, and how
Work in West Mills centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in West Mills
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Mills.
What the weather is like in West Mills, month by month
West Mills 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 Mills
The nearest airport, Augusta State, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 173 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Mills
Schools across West Mills average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cascade Brook SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Madison Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Carrabec Community SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Madison Junior High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Mt Blue Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
Top high schools
- Mt Blue High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Carrabec High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Madison Area Memorial H SA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Mills school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Mills 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 Mills against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Mills
Is West Mills a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Mills ranks 13,552nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, cheap car insurance, and good schools, and lowest on cell coverage 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 Mills expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,530. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $62,234 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is West Mills safe?
Yes, West Mills is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $114 per resident a year.
Compare West Mills with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Mills. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Mills 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 Mills detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Mills: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Mills: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Mills: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Mills: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Mills 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.