Best PlacesWest Stonington, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Stonington, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West Stonington ranks 16,426th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Stonington
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 Stonington's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Stonington ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.7 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
Where West Stonington ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Stonington
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Stonington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $60,237, 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 Stonington's effective rate of 1.04%, 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 Stonington
West Stonington 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 Stonington.
Who works in West Stonington, and how
Work in West Stonington centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in West Stonington
The coast is about 1 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across West Stonington, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Stonington, month by month
West Stonington sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 78 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 53° | 43° | 33° |
| July | 78° | 67° | 58° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of West Stonington
The nearest airport, Knox County Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 170 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Stonington
Schools across West Stonington average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Deer Isle-stonington Elementary SchA · 68% proficient
Top high schools
- Deer Isle-stonington High SchA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Stonington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Stonington 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 Stonington against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Stonington
Is West Stonington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Stonington ranks 16,426th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, cheap car insurance, and civic engagement, and lowest on a weak job market 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 Stonington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $306,419. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $60,237 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is West Stonington safe?
Yes, West Stonington is safer than 61% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $266 per resident a year.
Compare West Stonington with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Stonington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Stonington 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 Stonington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Stonington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Stonington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Stonington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Stonington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Stonington 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.