Best PlacesWest Waldoboro, ME Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Waldoboro, 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 Waldoboro ranks 4,855th 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 Waldoboro
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 Waldoboro's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Waldoboro ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
Where West Waldoboro ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of towns
- Cheap childcare$964 a month, better than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Waldoboro
A household needs to earn about $89,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Waldoboro home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $78,090, 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 Waldoboro's effective rate of 1.09%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in West Waldoboro
West Waldoboro 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 Waldoboro.
Who works in West Waldoboro, and how
Work in West Waldoboro centers on other services and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in West Waldoboro
The coast is about 23 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across West Waldoboro, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Waldoboro, month by month
West Waldoboro sees roughly 78 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 Waldoboro
The nearest airport, Knox County Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 143 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Waldoboro
Schools across West Waldoboro average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Great Salt Bay Community SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Miller SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Medomak Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
Top high schools
- Medomak Valley High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Waldoboro school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Waldoboro 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 Waldoboro against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Waldoboro
Is West Waldoboro a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Waldoboro ranks 4,855th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and low crime, and lowest on an overheated housing market and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Waldoboro expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $326,707. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $78,090 median income, cost of living beats 54% of towns.
Is West Waldoboro safe?
Yes, West Waldoboro is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $137 per resident a year.
Compare West Waldoboro with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Waldoboro. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Waldoboro 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 Waldoboro detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Waldoboro: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Waldoboro: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Waldoboro: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Waldoboro: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Waldoboro 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.