Best PlacesWest Southport, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Southport, 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 Southport ranks 7,204th 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 Southport
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 Southport's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Southport 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
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of towns
Where West Southport ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Southport
A household needs to earn about $127,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Southport home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $89,000, 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 Southport'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 Southport
West Southport 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 Southport.
Who works in West Southport, and how
Work in West Southport centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in West Southport
The coast is about 1 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across West Southport, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Southport, month by month
West Southport 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 Southport
The nearest airport, Knox County Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Southport
Schools across West Southport 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 Southport school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Southport 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 Southport against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Southport
Is West Southport a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Southport ranks 7,204th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on an overheated housing market and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Southport expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $495,800. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $89,000 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is West Southport safe?
West Southport is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $299 per resident a year.
Compare West Southport with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Southport. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Southport 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 Southport detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Southport: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Southport: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Southport: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Southport: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Southport 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.