Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Bethel grades D overall, ranked 134th of 142 in Maine, mostly because of incomes. The median household income is $59K, and 14% of residents live below the poverty line. It also has a long history, with 10 places on the National Register. 32% of working residents work locally in Bethel, where Maine’s towns sit at 12% and U.S. towns at 8%. Its National Register listings include Gehring Clinic and Dr. Moses Mason House. Bethel's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 87% of U.S. towns.
Where Bethel beats most towns.
Dr. Moses Mason House
Census counts: 616 in 1800, 2,504 in 2020. The archive holds 47 old photos and papers going back to 1860 and 5 maps from 1914 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Bethel is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bethel, 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 Bethel.
Bethel is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has an unusually large share working from home, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Maine.
52 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. Bethel Community Forest, at 968 acres with 11.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. The trail density in Bethel is 0.8 miles per square mile.
| Bethel | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.6% | 4.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bethel Community Forest | 11.3 mi | 968 |
| 2. Valentine Farm | 1.4 mi | 151 |
| 3. Bingham Forest | 1.1 mi | 179 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by RSU 44/MSAD 44. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crescent Park SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 263 | C+ |
| Telstar High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 179 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Adults 18 to 34 are 12% of residents (20% statewide); people 65 and older are 29% of residents (22% statewide). Bethel’s median age is 50.2 years. Bethel has grown 9.8% since 2020, to 2,751 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Bethel | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 50.2 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 16% | 18% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 41% | 32% | 29% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.6 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Bethel | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 4.9% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.4% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.2% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.2% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.2% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.7% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 18.6% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.8% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.4% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.6% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 12.6% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.3% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.2% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 19.1% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,800, single groups can be off by several points
Bethel has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 79°, January nights drop to 7° and about 76 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
27.7% of workers work from home, against 15.9% across Maine.
About one in 3 of Bethel’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Bethel has added 187 jobs, to 1,245 in 2023. The top destinations are Portland (4%), Paris (3%) and Rumford (3%).
| Bethel | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $59,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 58% of U.S. communities. Since 1981, 18 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bethel.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 7.4 years of the county’s $60K median household income, the typical home (about $444K) costs more against local pay than in 89% of Maine towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living.
The typical Bethel home is worth about $444,000, down 0.5% in a year, 8% above the Maine typical home.
| Bethel | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $864 a month | $1,108 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 83% | 81% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 8,635 U.S. towns with household incomes like Bethel’s, it is healthier than 81%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Bethel beats the Maine average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 82% of Bethel adults had a checkup this year.
| Bethel | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 81% | 79% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 27% | 23% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Bethel | ME |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with high cholesterol | 40.8% | 37.4% |
| Fewer adults screened for colon cancer | 66.3% | 70.5% |
| Fewer adults seeing a dentist | 60% | 63.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bethel. Close and well known come first.
Big draw30 mi MountainMount Washington6 mi Ski areaSunday River146 runs · 2,322 ft vertical
33 mi Scenic railwayConway Scenic Railroad
40 mi National forestWhite Mountain National Forest
31 mi Theme parkStory Land35 mi Ski areaAttitash Mountain Resort85 runs · 1,662 ft verticalMount Washington: wwoods, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Conway Scenic Railroad: Pi.1415926535, CC BY-SA 3.0 · White Mountain National Forest: Ken Gallager at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Story Land: AnotherMaker, CC BY-SA 4.0
None within 15 miles of Bethel; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Bethel residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
10 places in Bethel on the National Register of Historic Places.
11 notable people were born in Bethel.
Town in Maine, United States
Bethel is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,504 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Bethel and West Bethel. The town is home to Gould Academy, a private preparatory school, and is near the Sunday River ski resort.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Bethel.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethel | #134 | D | C | — | C | B− |
| Hanover | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Rumford | #139 | D− | B− | C+ | D | D |
| Newry | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Greenwood | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Woodstock | — | — | B− | — | C | B− |
Woodstock has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Bethel and Woodstock report no FBI crime data of their own. Hanover, Newry and Greenwood aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bethel with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bethel grades D overall, better than 9% of U.S. towns and #134 of 142 in Maine. It grades B− for health and C for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 7.4 years of the area's median household income ($60,173 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.
11 notable people were born here, including La Fayette Grover and Simon Dumont.
