Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,469, incorporated in 1829.
The best of Appleton’s subject grades are an A for schools and history; the weakest is a D for walkability. 14% of the land in Appleton is conserved, above both Maine’s towns (4.7%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Its National Register listings include Georges River Canal and Gushee Family House. Appleton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Appleton beats most towns.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Appleton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 891 in 1840, a low of 574 in 1930, 1,411 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 1891 and 3 maps from 1948 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Appleton, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Appleton.
Its public schools are run by the Appleton Public Schools. Enrollment at the town’s public school: 132 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appleton Village SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 132 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Appleton’s median household income is $54,000, against $78,000 in Maine’s towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns. Only 6% of working residents stay in Appleton for work; the rest commute out. Its average commute is 30 minutes. Employers in Appleton added 98 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 160.
| Appleton | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $54,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.2% | 12% | 8% |
| Work from home | 11% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The range runs from 11° on a January night to 78° on a July afternoon, with about 69 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The biggest place to walk is Appleton Bog Preserve, 1,337 acres with 1.7 miles of trail. Trails total 9.5 miles in 6 parks and preserves. The town’s density of trails is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Appleton Bog Preserve | 1.7 mi | 1,337 |
| 2. Appleton Preserve | 1.7 mi | 114 |
| 3. Magog Falls Trail Conservation Easement | 0.3 mi | 63 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA puts 35% of Appleton’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 32% to hurricanes. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Federal aid has come to Appleton households in 11 declared disasters; the latest was in 2024.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
For households in Appleton, the share who own their home is 83%. Its going rate for rent stands at $1,104 a month.
| Appleton | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 83% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,104 a month | $1,106 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
17% of adults report frequent mental distress in Appleton. Two figures for adults locally: 30% feel lonely, 31% have obesity.
| Appleton | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Appleton | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 11.3% | 14.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 34%, against 36% across Maine. Age groups here sit within 4 points of the Maine average. The share of residents in Appleton who are under 18: 15%. Since 2020, Appleton has grown 3.9%, to 1,469 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Appleton | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 49.2 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 15% | 18% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 34% | 32% | 29% |
53% women, 47% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±8.6 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 77% are men (ME 50%).
| Appleton | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.5% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.8% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.8% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.3% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.5% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.6% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.3% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.2% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.9% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.8% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 36.1% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.3% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.7% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.9% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.2% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,500, single groups can be off by several points
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Appleton. Close and well known come first.
Big draw35 mi National ParkAcadia National Park4.1M visitors a year
30 mi LandmarkFort Knox
16 mi MuseumFarnsworth Art Museum
34 mi LighthousePemaquid Point Light
35 mi GardenCoastal Maine Botanical Gardens9 mi Ski areaCamden Snow Bowl31 runs · 836 ft verticalAcadia National Park: Plh1234us, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Knox: Unknown, Public domain · Farnsworth Art Museum: Panoramio user MementoMori, CC BY 3.0 · Pemaquid Point Light: WestportWiki, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens: CMBG editor, CC BY-SA 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Appleton
About 4 of every 100 Appleton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Where Appleton’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Appleton on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Maine, United States
Appleton is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. It is about 15 miles inland from Penobscot Bay and coastal towns such as Camden and Rockland, about 30 miles east of the state capital of Augusta. The population was 1,411 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 4.9 years of the area's median household income ($74,096 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
