Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Biddeford is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 115th among Maine's 142 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 59% of the country. Expect to pay for it: the typical home is worth about $506K, 5.5 years of the Portland metro’s $92K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 98% of U.S. towns, with 17 places on the National Register. On walkability, just 8 of Maine’s 285 towns do better. Its National Register listings include James Montgomery Flagg House and First Parish Meetinghouse. Only 3 of Maine’s 92 towns score lower on safety.
Where Biddeford beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1616, comes before those of 99% of the Maine towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 1,018 in 1790, 22,552 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 4 maps from 1891 on.
17 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Biddeford is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Biddeford. Close and well known come first.
16 mi LighthousePortland Head Light
18 mi LandmarkFort Gorges37 mi Ancient sitePopham Colony
5 mi MuseumSeashore Trolley Museum
21 mi LighthouseCape Neddick Light
6 mi Theme parkFuntown Splashtown USAPortland 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
Who provides power, water and the rest in Biddeford, 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 Biddeford.
Biddeford trades workers with Portland and other neighbors and gets more snow than most of the country, though not than most of Maine; it also reports violent crime at about twice the Maine rate.
48 miles of trail in 32 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, 484 acres with 2 miles of trail. Biddeford’s trail density is 0.8 miles per square mile, near the Maine town median (0.7) and above the median of U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biddeford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.1% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Clifford Park | 6 mi | 143 |
| 2. Cranberry Marsh North | 2.1 mi | 167 |
| 3. Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge | 2 mi | 484 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Each of its 3 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C−, Kennebunkport highest at A.
Its public schools are run by the Biddeford Public Schools. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Biddeford High School, with 894 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biddeford Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–7 | Grades 5–7 | 542 | C− |
| Biddeford High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 8–12 | Grades 8–12 | 894 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Violent crime runs at 2.6 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Maine rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its C−. At 36.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 96% of Maine’s graded towns.
Biddeford’s violent crime rate is 2.6 per 1,000 residents, where Maine’s towns sit at 0.5 and U.S. towns at 1.6. Biddeford’s property crime rate is 18.8 per 1,000 residents. Biddeford reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 81% report less.
| Biddeford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 18.8 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.6 per 1,000 residents | 0.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Only 48.1% of households own their home, against 74.3% across Maine.
The median age in Biddeford is 35 years. Adults 18 to 34 are 34% of residents (20% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 33% of residents (40% statewide). 16% of residents are under 18 in Biddeford.
| Biddeford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 35 years | 45 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 16% | 18% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 22% | 18% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.9 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Biddeford | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.4% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.3% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 13.9% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 20.4% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.6% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.4% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.8% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.4% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.4% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.8% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.5% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.3% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.7% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.4% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
48% of Biddeford households own their home. The typical Biddeford home is worth about $506,000, up 0.5% in a year, 23% above the Maine typical home.
| Biddeford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 48% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,292 a month | $1,106 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Kennebunkport weather station, 7 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.
Biddeford has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 79° and January nights drop to 16°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Biddeford has about as many jobs (10,821) as working residents, but only 1,951 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Biddeford for work: only 18% work in town. Jobs based in Biddeford grew to 10,821 in 2023, 673 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Portland (18%), Saco (8%) and South Portland (7%).
| Biddeford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 12% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $72,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
180 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 12 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 63% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 180 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Biddeford.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Biddeford beats the Maine average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. Only 7 of the 143 Maine towns we compare have a lower share of adults who had a checkup this year than Biddeford.
| Biddeford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.7% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Biddeford | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 9.7% | 11.2% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 6.6% | 7.6% |
| Fewer adults seeing a dentist | 60.9% | 63.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
3 within 15 miles of the center of Biddeford
About 11 of every 100 Biddeford residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
17 places in Biddeford on the National Register of Historic Places.
32 notable people were born in Biddeford.
City in Maine, United States
Biddeford ( BID-if-ərd) is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddeford Pool and Fortunes Rocks. The town is the site of the University of New England and the annual La Kermesse Franco-Americaine Festival. First visited by Europeans in 1616, it is the site of one of the earliest European settlements in the United States. It is home to Saint Joseph's Church, the tallest building in Maine. Biddeford is a principal population center of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan statistical area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Biddeford.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biddeford | #115 | C− | C− | C− | C− | B |
| Saco | #22 | A− | C | B | A− | A− |
| Kennebunkport | #25 | A− | D | A− | A | A− |
| Dayton | — | — | B− | — | B+ | B |
Dayton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Dayton reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Biddeford with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Biddeford grades C− overall, better than 17% of U.S. towns and #115 of 142 in Maine. It grades B for health, C− for safety and C− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
32 notable people were born here, including Brian Dumoulin and Joan Wasser.
