Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Harrison grades D overall, ranked 136th of 142 in Maine, mostly because of incomes and schools. The median household income is $57K, and 19% of residents live below the poverty line. Its schools rank behind 87% of the state's. One bright spot: natural-hazard risk is low. 9.1% of residents are under 18 in Harrison, below both Maine’s towns (18%) and U.S. towns (22%). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 91% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Deertrees Theatre and Scribner Homestead.
Where Harrison beats most towns.
Deertrees Theatre2,730 counted in 2010 and 2,447 in 2020; an estimated 2,639 in 2025.
The decline has turned around: up 7.5% since 2020, after a 10.4% drop in the decade before.
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 Harrison is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 439 in 1810, a low of 439 in 1810, 2,447 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1849 and 4 maps from 1896 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Harrison, 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 Harrison.
Harrison trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, is a second-home town and gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns.
Its one school is below. 105 students attend Harrison’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–6 | Grades 3–6 | 105 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Harrison has 233 jobs for its 1,058 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Commuting out is the norm in Harrison: 8% of working residents work locally. The town’s mean commuting time stands at 31 minutes. Since 2013, Harrison has added 46 jobs, to 233 in 2023. The top destinations are Portland (10%), Bridgton (9%) and Naples (5%).
| Harrison | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $57,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 8.2% | 12% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
On expected storm and flood damage, Harrison sits below 74% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 57% come from inland flooding and 16% from hurricanes. Federal aid has come to Harrison households in 8 declared disasters; the latest was in 2024.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
27.6% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, against 15.3% statewide, which helps explain the older median age.
Among 143 Maine towns, just 9 have a higher age of the median resident than Harrison. Children under 18 are 9% of residents (18% statewide); people 65 and older are 30% of residents (22% statewide). Population is up 7.5% here since 2020, to 2,639 by the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. College graduates make up 31% of adults 25 and older, against 36% across Maine.
| Harrison | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 56 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 31% | 32% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.3 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Harrison | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5.4% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 3.7% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.6% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.1% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 5.8% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.9% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 22.7% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 17.8% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.1% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.9% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.6% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.5% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.7% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.1% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,600, single groups can be off by several points
The Bridgton 3 Nw weather station, 5 miles away, records that 84 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 95% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 79.7°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 85% of Maine places with climate records; January nights average 8.8°.
In Harrison, the January low is 9°F. The town’s midsummer high comes in at 80°F.
| Harrison | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 9°F | 10°F | 22°F |
| July high | 80°F | 79°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The biggest park or preserve is Crooked River Forest (Intervale), at 334 acres. Trails run 9.5 miles in 4 parks and preserves. The concentration of trails in Harrison is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Harrison | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7.8% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Crooked River Forest (Intervale) | 0.5 mi | 334 |
| 2. RADR Recreation Complex | — | 134 |
| 3. Crooked River Forest (Woodsum Brook) | — | 63 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 8,002 U.S. towns with household incomes like Harrison’s, it is healthier than 72%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Harrison: 21% of adults say their health is fair or poor. In Harrison, 16% of adults report frequent physical distress, and 32% sleep under 7 hours.
| Harrison | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 35% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 33% | 36% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Harrison | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10% | 14.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.3% | 8.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Homes are within reach (about $415K for the typical one, B for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 22 miles.
For households in Harrison, the share who live in a home they own is 90%. Values rose 8.9% in the 12 months to September 2026. Also worth knowing: the going rate for rent for Harrison comes to $885 a month.
| Harrison | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 90% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $885 a month | $1,108 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Harrison; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Harrison residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Where Harrison’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Harrison on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Harrison.
Town in Maine, United States
Harrison is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,447 at the 2020 census. A historic resort area, Harrison straddles Long Lake and Crystal Lake. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Harrison.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Norway (D) is closest.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison | #136 | D | B | — | D | C+ |
| Otisfield | — | — | C− | — | D | C− |
| Bridgton | #116 | C− | B− | — | C− | B− |
| Naples | #107 | C− | C | — | C− | B+ |
| Waterford | — | — | C+ | — | D | C+ |
| Norway | #133 | D | B− | B | D | D |
Otisfield and Waterford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Harrison, Otisfield, Bridgton, Naples and Waterford report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Harrison with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Harrison grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns and #136 of 142 in Maine. It grades C+ for health and D for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 4.5 years of the area's median household income ($92,175 across the Portland-South Portland, 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.
4 notable people were born here, including George W. Lakin and Melville E. Ingalls.
