Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Franklin’s subject grades are a B+ for history and cost of living; the weakest is a D for incomes. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 81% of U.S. towns. Only 5 of the 144 Maine towns we compare have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Franklin. Franklin's schools rank behind 75% of the state's. 11% of the land in Franklin is conserved, against 4.7% in Maine’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land, at 1,231 acres. Franklin has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Franklin beats most towns.
Coastal flooding makes up 12% 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 Franklin is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 382 in 1830, a low of 382 in 1830, 1,567 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 4 maps from 1932 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Franklin, 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 Franklin.
Most working residents leave Franklin for work: only 4% work in town. 16% of Franklin residents live below the poverty line, where Maine’s towns sit at 9% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Jobs based in Franklin grew to 135 in 2023, 43 more than in 2013.
| Franklin | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 12% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Franklin home is worth about $294,000, down 4.2% in a year, 29% below the Maine typical home. Franklin’s median rent is $888 a month.
| Franklin | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $888 a month | $1,106 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 77% | 81% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Franklin has cold winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Franklin is 78°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 63% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
11 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Donnell Pond Public Reserved Land | 0.2 mi | 1,231 |
| 2. Lyle Frost Wildlife Management Area | — | 415 |
| 3. Abraham's Woods Preserve | — | 28 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Maine average. 26% of Franklin residents are 65 or older. Franklin has grown 6.2% since 2020, to 1,666 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Franklin | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 26% | 22% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 16% | 18% | 22% |
| Median age | 46 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
54% women, 46% men
About 87 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.5 points). Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Franklin | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.2% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.1% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.8% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.5% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.7% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.1% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.5% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.1% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.4% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31.5% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 30.8% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.9% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.7% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.8% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,700, single groups can be off by several points
Franklin beats the Maine average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 28% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Franklin.
| Franklin | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Franklin | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults seeing a dentist | 57.8% | 63.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Franklin. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi National ParkAcadia National Park4.1M visitors a year
17 mi MountainCadillac Mountain
28 mi LandmarkFort Knox
27 mi LighthouseBass Harbor Head Light
15 mi MuseumAbbe Museum29 mi MuseumUniversity of Maine Museum of ArtAcadia 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 · Abbe Museum: AbbeMuseum, CC BY-SA 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Franklin
About 4 of every 100 Franklin residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Where Franklin’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in Maine, United States
Franklin is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2020 census. The town is named for Benjamin Franklin.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Franklin.
Franklin and Sullivan have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Franklin, Hancock and Sullivan report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Franklin with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. That is 4 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 B+.
