Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,596, settled in 1807. 37% more nonprofits per person than the typical Maine town.
Arundel grades A− overall, 23rd among Maine's 142 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its schools rank ahead of 86% of Maine towns and the median household earns $102K. It also does better than most on health: residents are healthier than 79% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $537K, 5.8 years of the Portland metro’s $92K median household income. Arundel is home to The Landing School. Only 23 of Maine’s 285 towns score lower on history. Arundel's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 88% of U.S. towns.
Where Arundel beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Mildred L Day School | K–5 | 224 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Arundel is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,458 in 1790, a low of 545 in 1930, 4,264 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 4 maps from 1891 on.
Arundel takes its name from Arundel in West Sussex, England, 3,200 miles across the Atlantic.
UKUK editionArundel, settled in 1807, takes its name from Arundel, a town in West Sussex, England.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Arundel. Close and well known come first.
20 mi LighthousePortland Head Light
22 mi LandmarkFort Gorges
3 mi MuseumSeashore Trolley Museum
19 mi LighthouseCape Neddick Light
8 mi Theme parkFuntown Splashtown USA
28 mi MuseumStrawbery BankePortland Head Light: Aniarku, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Gorges: Dirk Ingo Franke, CC BY 3.0 · Seashore Trolley Museum: Rene Schwietzke from Jena, Germany, CC BY 2.0 · Cape Neddick Light: Stefan Hillebrand, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Funtown Splashtown USA: Paulec252, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Strawbery Banke: Ken Gallager (Ken Gallager from en.wikipedia), Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Arundel, 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 Arundel.
Arundel has less tooth loss than most of Maine, has added a third more jobs in ten years and gets more snow than most of the country, though not than most of Maine.
Its public schools are run by RSU 21. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mildred L Day SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 224 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Maine is tooth loss: 9% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 14.8% statewide.
29% of Arundel adults sleep under 7 hours, against 33% in Maine’s towns and 36% across U.S. towns. 16% of adults report frequent mental distress in Arundel. Arundel beats the Maine average on 14 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Arundel | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 7.4% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Arundel | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9% | 14.8% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.4% | 10.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.6% | 9.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here grew from 793 in 2013 to 1,125.
Most working residents leave Arundel for work: only 9% work in town. At $102,000, Arundel’s median household income is above both Maine’s towns ($78,000) and U.S. towns ($80,000). Since 2013, Arundel has added 332 jobs, to 1,125 in 2023.
| Arundel | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 7% | 15% | 11% |
| Median household income | $102,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5.9% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The median rent in Arundel is $1,607 a month. The typical Arundel home is worth about $537,000, about the same as a year ago, 30% above the Maine typical home.
| Arundel | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,607 a month | $1,106 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 82% | 81% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
10 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Marshall Preserve, at 198 acres.
| Arundel | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4% | 4.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Arundel Community Trails | 1.3 mi | 39 |
| 2. Welch Woods | 0.4 mi | 7 |
| 3. Marshall Preserve | — | 198 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Kennebunkport weather station, 6 miles away, records that 49 inches of snow fall in a normal winter: more than most of the country, but less than 98% of Maine places with climate records. July afternoons average 81.1°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 98% of Maine places with climate records; January nights average 13.9°.
Arundel has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. Arundel’s July high is 81°F.
| Arundel | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 81°F | 79°F | 85°F |
| January low | 14°F | 10°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 2006, 7 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Arundel.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
People 65 and older are 16% of residents (22% statewide). Arundel has grown 7.5% since 2020, to 4,596 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 29% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across Maine.
| Arundel | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 22% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 18% | 22% |
| Median age | 40.9 years | 45 years | 40.5 years |
54% women, 46% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.2 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Arundel | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.9% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.4% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.6% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.3% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.1% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.1% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 20.6% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.5% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.3% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.3% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 40.1% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.9% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.2% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.9% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.5% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,600, single groups can be off by several points
3 within 15 miles of the center of Arundel
About 4 of every 100 Arundel residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Where Arundel’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in Maine, United States
Arundel is a town in York County, Maine, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,264. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. The Municipality of Arundel includes the constituent communities and neighbourhoods of: Arundel Village, Vinegar Hill, Riverside Arundel, Log Cabin Crossing, Goff Mill, Millers Crossing, and Cottagehill (Cape Arundel Cottage Preserve), among other neighbourhoods in an inland area adjacent to the Towns of Kennebunkport and Biddeford. In 2014, Arundel was named "Best Place to Live in Maine" by Downeast Magazine.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Arundel.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arundel | #23 | A− | C | — | A | A− |
| Kennebunk | #10 | A | C− | A− | A | A− |
| Kennebunkport | #25 | A− | D | A− | A | A− |
| Lyman | #44 | B+ | B | — | B+ | B |
Arundel and Lyman report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Arundel with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Arundel grades A− overall, better than 79% of U.S. towns and #23 of 142 in Maine. It grades A− for health and A for schools.
