Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,639.
Jay gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $218K for a typical one, or 3.7 years of the county’s $59K median household income. It grades C overall, 87th of 142 graded towns in Maine. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its schools rank behind 89% of the state's. Jay has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them North Jay Grange Store and Holmes-Crafts Homestead. Among 133 Maine towns, just 7 have a lower median rent than Jay. The biggest place to walk is Spruce Mountain Conservation Area, 157 acres with 1.4 miles of trail.
Where Jay beats most towns.
Where Jay’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 Jay is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 430 in 1800, 4,620 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 2 maps from 1950 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Jay, 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 Jay.
Jay trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
Its public schools are run by RSU 73. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Spruce Mountain High School, with 425 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spruce Mountain Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 306 | D |
| Spruce Mountain High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 425 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Homes are within reach (about $219K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 27 miles.
The typical Jay home is worth about $219,000, about the same as a year ago, 47% below the Maine typical home. 83% of households own their home in Jay, where Maine’s towns sit at 81% and U.S. towns at 73%.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| Jay | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 4.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Spruce Mountain Conservation Area | 1.4 mi | 157 |
| 2. French Falls Recreation Area | 1.4 mi | 29 |
| 3. Jay Recreation Area | — | 138 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Jobs based here fell from 1,828 in 2013 to 855.
Most working residents leave Jay for work: only 10% work in town. Since 2013, Jay has lost 973 jobs, to 855 in 2023. At 21 minutes, Jay’s average trip to work is below both the Maine town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes).
| Jay | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $70,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 12% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Livermore Falls 1 E weather station records that 91 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 96% of U.S. towns. The Livermore Falls 1 E weather station records that about 5 days a year reach 90°: fewer than most of the country, but more than 79% of Maine places with climate records.
Jay has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. Jay’s July high is 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Maine average. 18% of Jay residents are under 18. 30% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across Maine.
| Jay | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 39.5 years | 45 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 18% | 18% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 19% | 22% | 18% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.5 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Jay | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.9% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.5% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.6% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.2% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.7% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.7% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.3% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.3% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 36.2% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.7% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.2% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.2% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.5% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,600, single groups can be off by several points
Maine has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns Jay sits closer to the middle.
| Jay | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.7 per 1,000 residents | 0.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.7 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Jay beats the Maine average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 35% of adults feel lonely in Jay.
| Jay | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 32% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 33% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Jay | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults seeing a dentist | 60.5% | 63.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 54% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Jay since 1987.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Jay
About 5 of every 100 Jay residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maine.
3 places in Jay on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Jay.
Town in Maine, United States
Jay is a town in Franklin County, Maine, United States. Jay was included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 4,620 at the 2020 United States census. Jay includes the village of Chisholm.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Jay.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay | #87 | C | B+ | B | D | B− |
| Canton | — | — | A− | — | C− | C+ |
| Chesterville | — | — | C+ | — | C+ | C+ |
| Wilton | #96 | C | B+ | B+ | C+ | C |
| Livermore Falls | #141 | D− | B+ | C | D | D− |
| Livermore | — | — | B− | — | D | B |
Canton, Chesterville and Livermore have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Canton, Chesterville and Livermore report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Jay with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Jay grades C overall, better than 34% of U.S. towns and #87 of 142 in Maine. It grades B− for health, B for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes, by national standards. Maine has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Jay sits nearer the middle.
Not for the 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+.
Jay has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places. 3 notable people were born here, including John Lewis Childs and Joseph Foxcroft Cole.
