Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Deer Isle’s best subject grade is an A for history; its weakest is a C− for cost of living. Only 6 of the 134 Maine towns we compare have a higher median rent than Deer Isle. Its National Register listings include Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and Pumpkin Island Light Station. Deer Isle has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Deer Isle beats most towns.
Census counts: 682 in 1790, a peak of 3,590 in 1860, 2,194 in 2020. The archive holds 7 old photos and papers going back to 1854 and 3 maps from 1904 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Deer Isle is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Deer Isle, 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 Deer Isle.
Its public schools are run by Deer Isle-Stonington CSD. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 249 | D |
| Deer Isle-Stonington High SchLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 94 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
About one in 4 of Deer Isle’s working residents works in town. 19% of residents live below the poverty line in Deer Isle, above both Maine’s towns (9%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). The average trip to work in Deer Isle is 20 minutes.
| Deer Isle | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 27% | 12% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 69% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Deer Isle since 1981.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Deer Isle has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. At 76°F, Deer Isle’s July high is below both the Maine town median (79°F) and the median of U.S. towns (85°F).
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Deer Isle beats the Maine average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 29% of Deer Isle adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Deer Isle | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 35% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Deer Isle | ME |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.7% | 76.4% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 4.9% | 3.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Adults 35 to 64 are 44% of residents (40% statewide). Deer Isle’s median age is 52.6 years. Deer Isle has lost 2.7% of its people since 2020, down to 2,132 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Deer Isle | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 52.6 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 15% | 18% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 25% | 22% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 32% | 29% |
53% women, 47% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.2 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women. Among residents 45 to 54, 76% are men (ME 50%).
| Deer Isle | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.9% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 4.8% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.2% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.8% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.8% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 21.8% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11.7% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.5% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.3% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.3% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.4% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 20.4% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,100, single groups can be off by several points
21 miles of trail in 23 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Bradbury Island, at 163 acres.
| Deer Isle | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Edgar M. Tennis Preserve | 2.5 mi | 111 |
| 2. Shore Acres Preserve | 2.2 mi | 67 |
| 3. Barred Island Preserve | 1.5 mi | 56 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Deer Isle home is worth about $403,000, up 2.4% in a year, close to the Maine typical home. 86% of households own their home in Deer Isle.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Deer Isle. Close and well known come first.
Big draw13 mi National ParkAcadia National Park4.1M visitors a year
29 mi MountainCadillac Mountain
23 mi LandmarkFort Knox
23 mi LighthouseBass Harbor Head Light
18 mi MuseumFarnsworth Art Museum17 mi Ski areaCamden Snow Bowl31 runs · 836 ft verticalAcadia National Park: Plh1234us, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cadillac Mountain: The original uploader was NightThree at English Wikipedia., CC BY 2.0 · Fort Knox: Unknown, Public domain · Bass Harbor Head Light: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Farnsworth Art Museum: Panoramio user MementoMori, CC BY 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Deer Isle
About 3 of every 100 Deer Isle residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Coastal flooding makes up 25% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
Town in Maine, United States
Deer Isle is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,194 at the 2020 census. Notable landmarks in Deer Isle are the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and Stonington Opera House.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Deer Isle.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deer Isle | — | — | C− | — | C− | C+ |
| Stonington | — | — | B+ | — | C− | C+ |
| North Haven | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Brooksville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Brooklin | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Islesboro | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Swans Island | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sedgwick | — | — | C+ | — | B− | B+ |
Deer Isle, Stonington and Sedgwick have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Deer Isle, Stonington and Sedgwick report no FBI crime data of their own. North Haven, Brooksville, Brooklin, Islesboro and Swans Island aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Deer Isle with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. That is 5.5 years of the area's median household income ($72,744 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−.
2 notable people were born here, including Salome Sellers and Edmund Sylvester.
