Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Blue Hill is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B overall, ranked 47th of 142 in Maine, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools rank ahead of 73% of Maine towns. Expect to pay for it: homes are expensive, about $492K for a typical one and 6.8 times the county’s $73K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 91% of U.S. towns, with 7 places on the National Register. On walkability, just 19 of Maine’s 285 towns do better. 13% of the land in Blue Hill is conserved, above both Maine’s towns (4.7%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Its National Register listings include Barncastle and Blue Hill Historic District.
Where Blue Hill beats most towns.
Census counts: 274 in 1790, a low of 274 in 1790, 2,792 in 2020. The archive holds 15 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 4 maps from 1904 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Blue Hill is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Blue Hill. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi National ParkAcadia National Park4.1M visitors a year
15 mi MountainCadillac Mountain
18 mi LandmarkFort Knox
16 mi LighthouseBass Harbor Head Light
35 mi MuseumFarnsworth Art Museum
16 mi MuseumAbbe MuseumAcadia National Park: Plh1234us, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cadillac Mountain: The original uploader was NightThree at English Wikipedia., CC BY 2.0 · Fort Knox: Unknown, Public domain · Bass Harbor Head Light: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Farnsworth Art Museum: Panoramio user MementoMori, CC BY 3.0 · Abbe Museum: AbbeMuseum, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Blue Hill, 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 Blue Hill.
Blue Hill has fewer 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and trades workers with Ellsworth and other neighbors, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Maine.
Its public schools are run by the Blue Hill Public Schools. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Hill Consolidated SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 256 | B+ |
| George Stevens Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 311 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 74% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Blue Hill since 2024.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Blue Hill beats the Maine average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 30% of Blue Hill adults sleep under 7 hours, below both the Maine town median (33%) and the median of U.S. towns (36%). 84% of adults had a checkup this year in Blue Hill.
| Blue Hill | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 84% | 81% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 16% |
| What stands out | Blue Hill | ME |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.4% | 76.4% |
| More adults getting a yearly checkup | 84% | 81.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.1% | 9.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Belfast weather station, 23 miles away, records that about 2 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 97% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 77.4°, cooler than in 96% of U.S. towns; January nights average 13°.
Blue Hill has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Blue Hill is 77°F. About 72 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Blue Hill | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 77°F | 79°F | 85°F |
| January low | 13°F | 10°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 6.8 years of the county’s $73K median household income, the typical home (about $492K) costs more against local pay than in 87% of Maine towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living. 93.6% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.4% across Maine.
Typical home values rose 6.3% in the year to September 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Adults 18 to 34 are 13% of residents (20% statewide); people 65 and older are 30% of residents (22% statewide). Blue Hill’s median age is 48.6 years. 38% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across Maine.
| Blue Hill | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 48.6 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 32% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.5 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Blue Hill | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.5% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.8% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 2.5% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.2% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.2% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 17.3% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.1% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.2% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 14.4% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.9% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 21.9% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.7% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.3% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.2% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,800, single groups can be off by several points
The biggest place to walk is Kingdom Woods Conservation Area, 889 acres with 4.1 miles of trail. 25 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kingdom Woods Conservation Area | 4.1 mi | 889 |
| 2. Blue Hill Mountain | 4.1 mi | 542 |
| 3. Peter's Brook & Penny's Nature Preserve | 3.9 mi | 293 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Blue Hill has about as many jobs (1,226) as working residents, but only 266 people both live and work here.
About one in 4 of Blue Hill’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Ellsworth (15%), Bar Harbor (7%) and Bangor (5%). Half commute less than 14 miles.
| Blue Hill | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 26% | 12% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1 within 15 miles of the center of Blue Hill
About 6 of every 100 Blue Hill residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maine.
Coastal flooding makes up 9% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
28.4% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, so the town is fuller in summer than its census count suggests.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
7 places in Blue Hill on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Blue Hill.
Town in Maine, United States
Blue Hill is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States, located on Blue Hill Bay. The population was 2,792 at the 2020 census. It is home to the Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, George Stevens Academy, the Blue Hill Harbor School, The Bay School, New Surry Theatre, Kneisel Hall, Bagaduce Music Lending Library, Seaside Cemetery, the Kollegewidgwok Yacht Club, the Shaw Institute, and the Blue Hill Country Club. The town also hosts the annual Blue Hill Fair.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Blue Hill.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Hill | #47 | B | C | — | B+ | B+ |
| Surry | — | — | B− | — | C | B+ |
| Sedgwick | — | — | C+ | — | B− | B+ |
| Mount Desert | — | — | C− | — | A+ | A |
| Tremont | — | — | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Penobscot | — | — | B | — | C+ | B+ |
| Brooklin | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Surry, Sedgwick, Mount Desert, Tremont and Penobscot have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Blue Hill, Surry, Sedgwick, Mount Desert, Tremont and Penobscot report no FBI crime data of their own. Brooklin isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Blue Hill with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Blue Hill grades B overall, better than 64% of U.S. towns and #47 of 142 in Maine. It grades B+ for health and B+ for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
7 notable people were born here, including Graham Platner and Mary Ellen Chase.
