Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Bowdoinham grades C+ overall, 80th among Maine's 142 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its schools rank ahead of 78% of Maine towns. It also does better than most on health: residents are healthier than 60% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $386K, 4.2 years of the Portland metro’s $92K median household income. 11% of the land in Bowdoinham is conserved, above both Maine’s towns (4.7%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Merrymeeting Bay Wildlife Management Area, at 1,921 acres with 1.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 82% of U.S. towns.
Where Bowdoinham beats most towns.
Coastal flooding makes up 15% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Bowdoinham is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 455 in 1790, a low of 455 in 1790, 3,047 in 2020. The archive holds 23 old photos and papers going back to 1795 and 4 maps from 1892 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bowdoinham. Close and well known come first.
34 mi LighthousePortland Head Light
32 mi LandmarkFort Gorges
23 mi LighthousePemaquid Point Light21 mi LandmarkSpirit Pond runestones
15 mi GardenCoastal Maine Botanical GardensPortland Head Light: Aniarku, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Gorges: Dirk Ingo Franke, CC BY 3.0 · Pemaquid Point Light: WestportWiki, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens: CMBG editor, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bowdoinham, 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 Bowdoinham.
Bowdoinham has fewer 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, sends most of its workers to Brunswick and beyond and owes part of its health edge to its incomes.
39 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. Bowdoinham’s trail density is 1.0 miles per square mile, above both the Maine town median (0.7) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Merrymeeting Bay Wildlife Management Area | 1.6 mi | 1,921 |
| 2. Red Rose Preserve | 0.6 mi | 62 |
| 3. Bowdoinham Sports Fields | 0.4 mi | 22 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by RSU 75/MSAD 75. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bowdoinham Community SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 192 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Bowdoinham has 273 jobs for its 1,472 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
3.5% of Bowdoinham working residents work locally. Jobs based in Bowdoinham grew to 273 in 2023, 42 more than in 2013. Bowdoinham’s median household income is $108,000.
| Bowdoinham | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $108,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.5% | 12% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 35 to 64 are 50% of residents (40% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 11% of residents (20% statewide). The median age in Bowdoinham is 51.9 years. Bowdoinham has grown 5.3% since 2020, to 3,210 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Bowdoinham | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 51.9 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 44% | 32% | 29% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.6 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Bowdoinham | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.9% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 4.6% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 2.4% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.4% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 17.6% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7.6% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 25.2% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 18.5% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 2.9% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.5% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 35.9% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 10.7% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.8% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,200, single groups can be off by several points
The Bath weather station, 8 miles away, records that about 2 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 95% of U.S. towns.
Bowdoinham has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 79°, January nights drop to 11° and about 72 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 7,370 U.S. towns with household incomes like Bowdoinham’s, it is less healthy than 68%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
29% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Bowdoinham. Bowdoinham beats the Maine average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 28% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Bowdoinham.
| Bowdoinham | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Bowdoinham | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.1% | 14.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 59% of U.S. communities. Since 1987, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bowdoinham.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Bowdoinham home is worth about $386,000, up 1.2% in a year, 6% below the Maine typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Bowdoinham
About 1 of every 100 Bowdoinham residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Where Bowdoinham’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 places in Bowdoinham on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Bowdoinham.
Town in Maine, United States
Bowdoinham is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. It was included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England City and Town Area. The population was 3,047 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine, metropolitan statistical area. The town is located on the west side of Merrymeeting Bay
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Bowdoinham.
All 5 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C+; Bowdoin (B+) is closest.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowdoinham | #80 | C+ | C | — | A− | B |
| Topsham | #30 | A− | C | B+ | A− | A− |
| Woolwich | #19 | A− | B+ | — | B+ | A− |
| Richmond | #40 | B+ | B− | A+ | — | B− |
| Bowdoin | #41 | B+ | B | — | A− | B |
| Bath | #36 | B+ | C+ | A− | B+ | B |
Bowdoinham, Woolwich and Bowdoin report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Bowdoinham with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bowdoinham grades C+ overall, better than 40% of U.S. towns and #80 of 142 in Maine. It grades B for health and A− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
6 notable people were born here, including Robert Browne Hall and Frank Sandford.
