Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Durham grades B overall, ranked 50th of 142 in Maine, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its schools rank ahead of 93% of Maine towns and natural-hazard risk is low. It also does better than most on health: it is healthier than 71% of U.S. towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $444K, 6.5 years of the Lewiston metro’s $68K median household income. Only 16 of Maine’s 285 towns score lower on walkability. Durham has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Shiloh Temple and Nathaniel Osgood House. Among 143 Maine towns, just 7 have a higher share of households owning their home than Durham.
Where Durham beats most towns.
Where Durham’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Durham is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 724 in 1790, a low of 724 in 1790, 4,173 in 2020. The archive holds 16 old photos and papers going back to 2012 and 4 maps from 1892 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Durham, 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 Durham.
Durham has schools in the top 5% of Maine and gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Maine.
Its A ranks #6 of the 142 Maine towns we grade for schools.
Its public schools are run by RSU 05. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durham Community SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 469 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Durham has 317 jobs for its 1,911 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Durham for work: only 6% work in town. 21% of Durham workers work from home, against 14% in Maine’s towns and 11% across U.S. towns. Since 2013, Durham has added 124 jobs, to 317 in 2023.
| Durham | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 21% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.2% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $99,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 76% of U.S. communities. Since 1984, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Durham.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
30% of Durham adults have high blood pressure, where Maine’s towns sit at 35% and U.S. towns at 35%. 29% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Durham. Durham beats the Maine average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Durham | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 35% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 19% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Durham | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.8% | 7.6% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.8% | 3.6% |
| Fewer adults screened for colon cancer | 66% | 70.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Gray weather station, 8 miles away, records that 84 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 95% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 79.5°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 81% of Maine places with climate records; January nights average 11.6°.
Durham has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. Durham’s July high is 80°F.
| Durham | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 80°F | 79°F | 85°F |
| January low | 12°F | 10°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
People 65 and older are 17% of residents (22% statewide). Durham has grown 5.4% since 2020, to 4,399 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.
| Durham | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 22% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 18% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 32% | 29% |
| Median age | 42.6 years | 45 years | 40.5 years |
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.7 points). Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Durham | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.1% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.6% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.9% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.2% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 18.7% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.9% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.1% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.5% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.2% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.8% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 14.3% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 16.9% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.6% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.2% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,400, single groups can be off by several points
At 6.5 years of the Lewiston metro’s $68K median household income, the typical home (about $444K) costs more against local pay than in 85% of Maine towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living.
The typical Durham home is worth about $444,000, down 0.7% in a year, 8% above the Maine typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3.9 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The trail density in Durham is 0.1 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Chesley Meadows Preserve, at 160 acres.
| Durham | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.8% | 4.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Runaround Pond Recreation Area | 0.6 mi | 140 |
| 2. Chesley Meadows Preserve | 0.5 mi | 160 |
| 3. Durham River Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Durham. Close and well known come first.
23 mi LighthousePortland Head Light22 mi Ancient sitePopham Colony
21 mi LandmarkFort Gorges
21 mi MuseumMaine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum22 mi LandmarkSpirit Pond runestones
22 mi MuseumPortland Museum of ArtPortland Head Light: Aniarku, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Gorges: Dirk Ingo Franke, CC BY 3.0 · Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum: No machine-readable author provided. Gwernol assumed (based on copyright claims), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Portland Museum of Art: John Phelan, CC BY 3.0
5 within 15 miles of the center of Durham
About 5 of every 100 Durham residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maine.
5 places in Durham on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Durham.
Town in Maine, United States
Durham is a town in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,173 at the 2020 census. It is included in both the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine Metropolitan New England City and Town Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Durham.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durham | #50 | B | C | — | A | B+ |
| Lisbon | #62 | B− | C+ | A− | C | B− |
| Lisbon Falls | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Topsham | #30 | A− | C | B+ | A− | A− |
| Lewiston | #138 | D | C | C | D− | C− |
| Auburn | #126 | D | C− | C | C+ | C+ |
| Pownal | — | — | C+ | — | A | A− |
| Freeport | #9 | A | C− | B+ | A | A |
Pownal has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Durham and Pownal report no FBI crime data of their own. Lisbon Falls isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Durham with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Durham grades B overall, better than 62% of U.S. towns and #50 of 142 in Maine. It grades B+ for health and A for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
4 notable people were born here, including Nelson Dingley and Hosea M. Knowlton.
