BrooksME
A town of 1,023, incorporated in 1816. Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Is Brooks a good place to live?
Brooks’ best subject grades are an A− for history and civic life; its weakest is a D for schools. Only 27 of Maine’s 285 towns score lower on incomes. Its National Register listings include (Former) Maine Central Railroad Depot and Pilley House. Brooks has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Brooks stand out
Where Brooks beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Community nonprofits per 1,000 residents
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Morse Memorial School | K–5 | 70 |
1,023 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Brooks grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Brooks is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Brooks: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Brooks, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Brooks.
Brooks’ schools rank behind 95% of Maine districts
Its public schools are run by RSU 03/MSAD 03. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morse Memorial SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 70 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Fewer of Brooks’ working residents work locally than in the typical Maine or U.S. town
1.6% of working residents work locally in Brooks, where Maine’s towns sit at 12% and U.S. towns at 8%. Jobs based in Brooks grew to 151 in 2023, 98 more than in 2013. 19% of residents live below the poverty line in Brooks.
| Brooks | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.6% | 12% | 8% |
| Median household income | $59,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 15% | 14% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical home in Brooks is valued at about $282K
The typical Brooks home is worth about $282,000, up 4.2% in a year, 32% below the Maine typical home.
| Brooks | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 75% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,116 a month | $1,106 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Brooks is less healthy than 68% of U.S. towns
Brooks beats the Maine average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 30% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Brooks, above both Maine’s towns (27%) and U.S. towns (23%). 20% of Brooks adults report frequent mental distress.
| Brooks | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Brooks | ME |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 18.1% | 14.4% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 9.3% | 7.4% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 12.3% | 9.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Brooks
Brooks has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Brooks is 78°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
More middle-aged adults than Maine overall
Adults 35 to 64 are 47% of residents (40% statewide); people 65 and older are 17% of residents (22% statewide). Brooks’ median age is 45.9 years. 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across Maine.
| Brooks | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 17% | 18% | 22% |
| Median age | 45.9 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 22% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 28% | 32% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±6.3 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Brooks | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.9% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.1% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.6% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.9% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.1% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 19.5% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.8% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.2% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.4% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.8% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.9% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.4% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.7% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.9% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,000, single groups can be off by several points
Inland flooding leads a moderate hazard risk in Brooks
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 54% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Brooks since 1986.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Brooks has set aside 3% of its land for conservation
3.2 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Brooks Town Forest, at 110 acres.
| Brooks | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Brooks Town Forest | — | 110 |
| 2. Brooks Community Park | — | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Brooks
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Brooks; the nearest are
About 7 of every 100 Brooks residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maine.
98% of working residents leave Brooks for work
Where Brooks’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Brooks
Town in Maine, United States
Brooks is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,010 at the 2020 census. The town was incorporated on December 10, 1816, and was named after John Brooks, the Federalist candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 1815–1816, when the town incorporated. The town of Dexter, which incorporated the same year, was named after the opposing candidate Samuel Dexter. It was during Gov. Brooks' administration that Maine ceased to be a territory of Massachusetts and became a state.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 25 sq mi
- Elevation
- 741 ft
- ZIP code
- 04921
- Area code
- 207
Questions about Brooks
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Brooks, ME a good place to live?
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Is Brooks, ME expensive?
That is 3.9 years of the area's median household income ($72,782 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+.
What is Brooks, ME known for?
Brooks was incorporated in 1816 and has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places. 2 notable people were born here, including Elizabeth Grinnell and Hannah T. Pratt.