Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,482.
Cushing’s best subject grades are a B+ for health and a B for history; its weakest is a D for cost of living. Only 16 of Maine’s 285 towns score lower on cost of living. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 78% of U.S. towns. Among 144 Maine towns, just 1 have a lower July high than Cushing. Only 7 of Maine’s 285 towns score lower on civic life. Olson House is on the National Register of Historic Places. Cushing has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
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 Cushing is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 942 in 1790, a low of 350 in 1930, 1,502 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 1977 and 2 maps from 1955 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Cushing, 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 Cushing.
Most working residents leave Cushing for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Rockland (16%), Thomaston (9%) and Warren (7%). Half commute less than 12 miles.
| Cushing | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 3.8% | 12% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 7.7% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $84,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by RSU 13. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cushing Community SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 74 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Cushing beats the Maine average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 29% of Cushing adults sleep under 7 hours, against 33% in Maine’s towns and 36% across U.S. towns. 30% of adults feel lonely in Cushing.
| Cushing | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Cushing | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.8% | 14.8% |
| More adults seeing a dentist | 69% | 63.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Cushing has cold, snowy winters and cool summers, with plenty of rain. At 15°F, Cushing’s January low is where Maine’s towns sit at 10°F and U.S. towns at 22°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Cushing home is worth about $467,000, up 3.5% in a year, 13% above the Maine typical home. Cushing’s median rent is $1,553 a month.
| Cushing | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,553 a month | $1,106 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 85% | 81% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Maine average. The median age in Cushing is 48.8 years. 38% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across Maine.
| Cushing | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 48.8 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 17% | 18% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 32% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 22% | 18% |
43% women, 57% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±9.3 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Cushing | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.4% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.8% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.7% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.5% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.7% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.8% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 23.7% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.6% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.8% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.8% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.6% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.4% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.1% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.3% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,500, single groups can be off by several points
3.2 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Langlais Art Preserve, at 92 acres.
| Cushing | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.3% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cross Cushing Preserve | 1 mi | 32 |
| 2. Good Neighbors Park | 0.5 mi | 14 |
| 3. Langlais Art Preserve | — | 92 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Cushing. Close and well known come first.
Big draw30 mi National ParkAcadia National Park4.1M visitors a year32 mi Ancient sitePopham Colony
17 mi LighthousePemaquid Point Light
10 mi MuseumFarnsworth Art Museum
22 mi GardenCoastal Maine Botanical Gardens33 mi LandmarkSpirit Pond runestonesAcadia National Park: Plh1234us, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pemaquid Point Light: WestportWiki, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Farnsworth Art Museum: Panoramio user MementoMori, CC BY 3.0 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens: CMBG editor, CC BY-SA 4.0
None within 15 miles of Cushing; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Cushing residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
3 notable people were born in Cushing.
Town in Maine, United States
Cushing is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,502 at the 2020 census. Cushing includes the villages of North Cushing, Cushing, South Cushing, and Pleasant Point.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. That is 6.3 years of the area's median household income ($74,096 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 D.
Cushing has 1 place on the National Register of Historic Places. 3 notable people were born here, including Edward Robinson and Jennifer Elaine Smith.
