Best PlacesWest Princeton, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Princeton, 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 Princeton ranks 9,258th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Princeton
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 Princeton's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Princeton ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 96% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of towns
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of towns
Where West Princeton ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Princeton
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Princeton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,432, 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 Princeton's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 Princeton
West Princeton 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 Princeton.
Who works in West Princeton, and how
Work in West Princeton centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in West Princeton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Princeton.
What the weather is like in West Princeton, month by month
West Princeton sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 21° | 12° |
| April | 53° | 42° | 32° |
| July | 80° | 69° | 59° |
| October | 60° | 49° | 40° |
Flying in and out of West Princeton
The nearest airport, Hancock County/Bar Harbor, is about 62 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 257 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Princeton
Schools across West Princeton average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Princeton Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Alexander ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Woodland Jr-sr High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Princeton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Princeton 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 Princeton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Princeton
Is West Princeton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Princeton ranks 9,258th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and clean air, and lowest on distance from a big city and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Princeton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $151,314. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $73,432 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is West Princeton safe?
Yes, West Princeton is safer than 83% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $218 per resident a year.
Compare West Princeton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Princeton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Princeton 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 Princeton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Princeton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Princeton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Princeton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Princeton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Princeton 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.