Calais makes Maine’s top 10 on 3 lists
Calais is ranked on 38 lists against the 144 Maine towns with 2,500+ residents. It makes the top 10 on 3 and the top quarter on 4.
A podium finish, and more
Each list ranks every ME town with 2,500+ residents. Tap one to see the whole list with Calais marked.
More snow than 96% of Maine
Not better or worse, just Calais’s character, from the lists where neither end is the “good” one. The most distinctive come first.
Calais lands in the top half on 9 of 25 lists
Each dot is Calais’s spot on one list: the left end is #1 in ME, the right end is last. Areas where Calais does best come first.
2 spots from the top 10 for short commutes
Lists where Calais sits just outside a milestone, and what it would take to get in.
Where Calais lands in every ME ranking
41 lists from Census, school, health, library, crime, climate and land data. Tap any list to see every town on it.
Cost of living
Most affordable#1 Millinocket · 1.4 yrs
#3
Cheapest rent#1 Waldoboro · $348/mo
#47
C
Lowest property tax#1 Corinth · $1,381/yr
#7
Rent easiest to afford#1 Biddeford · 37.2%
Getting around
Shortest commute#1 Houlton · 10.4 min
#12 Outdoors
Most conserved land#1 Milford · 54%
#9
Most trails#1 Falmouth · 2.9 mi / sq mi
#78
Most walkable#1 South Portland · 70.0 / sq mi
#79 Libraries
Most-used libraries#1 Camden · 37.4 per resident
#32
Most library borrowing#1 Camden · 20.5 per resident
#46
Best libraries for kids#1 Camden · 39.3 per child
#46 Health
Healthiest#1 Cape Elizabeth · 98 / 100
#137
Lowest obesity#1 Falmouth · 24%
#129
Fewest smokers#1 Cape Elizabeth · 7%
#117
Most active#1 Cape Elizabeth · 14%
#140
Fewest uninsured#1 Cape Elizabeth · 4%
#131
Lowest depression#1 Cape Elizabeth · 23%
#82
Closest to a top hospital#1 Lewiston · 0.0 mi
#124 People
Most educated#1 Cape Elizabeth · 74.1%
#103
Youngest#1 Orono · 21.8
#66
Oldest#1 Harpswell · 62.0
#80
Most residents 65+#1 Bristol · 42.8%
#53
Most kids#1 Jefferson · 28%
#96 
The number on the right is Calais’s spot. All of Maine’s rankings, with the map → · National lists and other states: all rankings.
Do the numbers ring true?
The lists count what can be counted. Neighbors know the rest.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
- 2,500+ residents. Census estimates for smaller towns carry margins of error too wide to rank fairly, so they sit out every ME list.
- One town, one row. A city that is both a city and a town in Census data, or a village inside a town, is counted once.
- Ties share a rank. Towns on one weather station, one school district or one CDC estimate share a figure, so they share a spot (T).
- No “worst” lists. Lists rank toward the good end, and share cards are made only for the top half. Age, snow and the like are character, not grades.
U.S. Census Bureau (American Community Survey 5-year, 2010 and 2020 censuses, Building Permits Survey), U.S. Department of Education, FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, CDC PLACES, Medicare Care Compare, IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FHFA House Price Index, NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. Each list explains its own method.