Best PlacesWest Paris, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Paris, 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 Paris ranks 19,824th 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 Paris
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 Paris' strengths and weaknesses
Where West Paris ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of towns
Where West Paris ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 23% of towns
- Household income$58,664 median, better than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Paris
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Paris home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,664, 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 Paris' effective rate of 0.93%, 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 Paris
West Paris runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Paris.
Who works in West Paris, and how
Work in West Paris centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in West Paris
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Paris.
What the weather is like in West Paris, month by month
West Paris sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 12° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 70° | 58° |
| October | 62° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of West Paris
The nearest airport, Augusta State, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Paris
Schools across West Paris average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Woodstock SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Hartford-sumner Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Paris Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
Top middle schools
- Telstar Middle SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Oxford Hills Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
Top high schools
- Oxford Hills Comprehensive H SA+ · 90% proficient
- Buckfield Jr-sr High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Telstar High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Paris school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Paris 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 Paris against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Paris
Is West Paris a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Paris ranks 19,824th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and clean air, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Paris expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $199,330. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $58,664 median income, cost of living beats 23% of towns.
Is West Paris safe?
Yes, West Paris is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $171 per resident a year.
Compare West Paris with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Paris. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Paris 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 Paris detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Paris: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Paris: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Paris: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Paris: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Paris 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.