Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,965, organized in 1779.
Bridgton is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 116th among Maine's 142 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is cost of living: homes are within reach, about $411K for a typical one, or 4.5 years of the Portland metro’s $92K median household income. Its lowest everyday mark is in schools: its schools rank behind 81% of the state's. Bridgton’s average trip to work is 41 minutes, above both Maine’s towns (25 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). No town in Maine scores higher than Bridgton on hazard risk. Its National Register listings include Benjamin Cleaves House and William F. Perry House.
Where Bridgton beats most towns.
William F. Perry House
Census counts: 329 in 1790, 5,418 in 2020. The archive holds 35 old photos and papers going back to 1790 and 4 maps from 1896 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Bridgton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bridgton, 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 Bridgton.
Bridgton gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and trades workers with Portland and other neighbors.
50 miles of trail in 19 parks and preserves. Perley Mills Community Forest, at 545 acres with 2.4 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Bridgton’s trail density is 0.8 miles per square mile.
| Bridgton | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.2% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bald Pate Mountain Preserve | 7.1 mi | 491 |
| 2. Highland Research Forest | 3.8 mi | 416 |
| 3. Holt Pond Preserve | 2.5 mi | 249 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by RSU 61/MSAD 61. One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stevens Brook SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 290 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
The FEMA risk score in Bridgton is 13 of 100. Since 2007, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bridgton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Bridgton 3 Nw weather station records that 84 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 95% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 80°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 89% of Maine places with climate records; January nights average 8.7°.
Bridgton has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers.
| Bridgton | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 9°F | 10°F | 22°F |
| July high | 80°F | 79°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Bridgton has about as many jobs (2,053) as working residents, but only 551 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 41 minutes, against 24.6 across Maine.
About one in 4 of Bridgton’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Bridgton has added 370 jobs, to 2,053 in 2023. 13% of Bridgton residents live below the poverty line.
| Bridgton | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 24% | 12% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 13% | 15% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Bridgton's reported crime rate is close to Maine's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 4 violent crimes were reported in 2024.
| Bridgton | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 0.6 | 1.7 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 10.2 per 1,000 residents | 10 | 11.5 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
People 65 and older are 27% of residents (22% statewide). Bridgton has grown 10% since 2020, to 5,965 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 35% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across Maine.
| Bridgton | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 27% | 21% | 18% |
| Median age | 45.9 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 18% | 18% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 32% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±6.1 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Bridgton | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.1% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.9% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.7% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.5% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.3% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.8% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.2% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 13.6% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.2% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.3% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 19% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.6% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.1% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.8% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Bridgton beats the Maine average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Bridgton.
| Bridgton | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 35% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 36% |
| What stands out | Bridgton | ME |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.3% | 14.8% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 4.3% | 3.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.9% | 8.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Bridgton home is worth about $411,000, up 0.9% in a year, close to the Maine typical home.
| Bridgton | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 83% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,188 a month | $1,106 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bridgton. Close and well known come first.
Big draw32 mi MountainMount Washington
40 mi LighthousePortland Head Light
19 mi Scenic railwayConway Scenic Railroad
37 mi LandmarkFort Gorges
33 mi National forestWhite Mountain National Forest
22 mi Theme parkStory LandMount Washington: wwoods, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Portland Head Light: Aniarku, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Conway Scenic Railroad: Pi.1415926535, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Gorges: Dirk Ingo Franke, CC BY 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 Bridgton; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Bridgton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
11 places in Bridgton on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Bridgton.
Town in Maine, United States
Bridgton is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,418 at the 2020 census. A resort area in Maine's Lakes Region, Bridgton is home to Bridgton Academy, a private preparatory school, and the Four on the Fourth Road Race. Bridgton is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Bridgton.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgton | #116 | C− | B− | — | C− | B− |
| Fryeburg | #98 | C | C | B+ | C+ | C |
| Harrison | #136 | D | B | — | D | C+ |
| Denmark | — | — | C | — | C+ | C+ |
| Naples | #107 | C− | C | — | C− | B+ |
| Waterford | — | — | C+ | — | D | C+ |
| Sweden | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Denmark and Waterford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Bridgton, Harrison, Denmark, Naples and Waterford report no FBI crime data of their own. Sweden isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bridgton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bridgton grades C− overall, better than 17% of U.S. towns and #116 of 142 in Maine. It grades B− for health and C− for schools. Schools 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 B−.
7 notable people were born here, including Henry B. Cleaves and George D. Libby.
