Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
42% more nonprofits per person than the typical Maine town.
Charleston’s best subject grades are an A+ for civic life and an A− for history; its weakest is a C− for health. No town among the 144 in Maine we compare has a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than Charleston. 14% of the land in Charleston is conserved, where Maine’s towns sit at 4.7% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. On civic life, just 22 of Maine’s 285 towns do better. Bud Leavitt Wildlife Management Area, at 1,900 acres with 2.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Charleston has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Charleston beats most towns.
1,409 counted in 2010 and 1,551 in 2020; an estimated 1,644 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Charleston is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 859 in 1830, a low of 716 in 1930, 1,558 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 1905 and 3 maps from 1932 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Charleston, 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 Charleston.
The typical Charleston home is worth about $236,000, up 1.3% in a year, 43% below the Maine typical home. 92% of Charleston households own their home, above both the Maine town median (81%) and the median of U.S. towns (73%).
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highview Christian Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–11 | Grades PK–11 | 86 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Charleston beats the Maine average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 20% of adults report frequent mental distress in Charleston. Among 144 Maine towns, just 4 have a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Charleston.
| Charleston | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 32% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Charleston | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 8% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 29.2% | 32% |
| More smokers | 18.9% | 14.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 79% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Charleston for work: only 5% work in town. Jobs based in Charleston grew to 322 in 2023, 28 more than in 2013. 6.4% of Charleston residents live below the poverty line.
| Charleston | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 5.1% | 12% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.4% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Charleston has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Charleston’s July high is 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
4.3 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The trail density in Charleston is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bud Leavitt Wildlife Management Area | 2.5 mi | 1,900 |
| 2. Alder Stream Wilderness Preserve | — | 599 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Charleston; the nearest are
About 0 of every 100 Charleston residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Where Charleston’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in Maine, United States
Charleston is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is part of the Bangor Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,558 at the 2020 census. Charleston includes the village of West Charleston and is home to the Higgins Classical Institute campus. Once a Christian school, it is now home to Faith Bible College International.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Charleston.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | — | — | B− | — | C+ | C− |
| Bradford | — | — | A | — | C | C− |
| Garland | — | — | A− | — | C− | D |
| Corinth | #90 | C | A | — | C | C− |
Charleston, Bradford and Garland have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Charleston, Bradford, Garland and Corinth report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Charleston with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
42% more nonprofits per person than the typical Maine town.
That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($66,356 across the Bangor, ME metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.