What stands out worked out from the figures below

Moose River has the shortest commute (15 min average).

Willimantic has the most people working from home (13.8%).

What matters to you?

Pick a few. We’ll pull those rows to the top and mark which town comes out ahead on each. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Raising kidsAffordabilityOwning a homeShort commuteWorking from homeYounger crowdSettled, older crowdGrowing town

Measure	Moose River	Willimantic
People
Population	248Highest	200Lowest
Median age	32.9±8.2Lowest 27% below ME	38.5±11.9Highest 14% below ME
	Willimantic and Moose River are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Kids under 18	32.3%±5.2Lowest ME: 18.1%	36.5%±11.4Highest ME: 18.1%
	Willimantic and Moose River are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Age 65+	8.5%±10.4Lowest ME: 22.4%	25.5%±16.2Highest ME: 22.4%
	Willimantic and Moose River are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+	14.6%Lowest ME: 36.2%	15.1%Highest ME: 36.2%
Enrolled in collegeshare of residents	4%±6.2 ME: 5.8%	4%±6.9 ME: 5.8%
Cost of living
Household incomemedian	$76,324±$9kHighest about the ME average	$63,472±$52kLowest 15% below ME
	Moose River and Willimantic are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Home valuemedian, owner-occupied	$144,900±$31kHighest 51% below ME	$131,700±$21kLowest 56% below ME
	Moose River and Willimantic are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Property taxmedian, yearly	$928Lowest 69% below ME	$1,285Highest 58% below ME
Renters paying 30%+of income on rent	0%±100 ME: 48.4%	—
Below poverty line	14.9%Lowest ME: 10.7%	32.5%Highest ME: 10.7%
Housing
Homeownersof occupied homes	91.3%Lowest ME: 74.3%	92.2%Highest ME: 74.3%
Typical home builtmedian year	1951Lowest 26 yrs older than ME	1986Highest 9 yrs newer than ME
Getting to work
Average commuteone way	15 minLowest 39% below ME	23 minHighest 6% below ME
Work from home	4.5%±5.9Lowest ME: 15.9%	13.8%±13.9Highest ME: 15.9%
	Willimantic and Moose River are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
On TownTapestry
Old photos in History	None yet	None yet

ME average · Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2020–2024; 2010 & 2020 decennial census; NCES Common Core of Data. “±” is the Census margin of error. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. School rank compares math and reading proficiency against the state average.