Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Kennebunk grades A overall, 10th among Maine's 142 graded towns. Its schools outperform 86% of the state's. It is healthier than 85% of U.S. towns and it reports less crime per resident than 82% of U.S. towns. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $618K for a typical one and 6.7 times the Portland metro’s $92K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 96% of U.S. towns, with 7 places on the National Register. 21% of the land in Kennebunk is conserved, against 4.7% in Maine’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include James Smith Homestead and Lord Mansion. Kennebunk's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 87% of U.S. towns.
Where Kennebunk beats most towns.
Lord Mansion| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Kennebunk Elementary School | PK–2 | 378 |
| Sea Road School | 3–5 | 308 |
| Middle School of the Kennebunks | 6–8 | 470 |
Its founding year, 1621, comes before those of 98% of the Maine towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 2,145 in 1820, 11,536 in 2020. The archive holds 42 old photos and papers going back to 1753 and 4 maps from 1891 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Kennebunk is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Kennebunk, 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 Kennebunk.
Kennebunk trades workers with Portland and other neighbors and is safe by national standards but not by Maine’s; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Maine.
43 miles of trail in 26 parks and preserves. Kennebunk’s trail density is 1.0 miles per square mile, where Maine’s towns sit at 0.7 and U.S. towns at 0.4. The biggest place to walk is Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, 1,710 acres with 6.3 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area | 6.3 mi | 1,710 |
| 2. Alewive Woods Preserve | 4.6 mi | 636 |
| 3. Wonder Brook / Murphy Preserve | 2.1 mi | 78 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A for schools comes with a C− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $618K.
Its public schools are run by RSU 21. Three of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Kennebunk High School, with 683 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle School of the KennebunksLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 470 | A |
| Kennebunk High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 683 | A |
| Sea Road SchoolTop results in townGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 308 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
At 6.7 years of the Portland metro’s $92K median household income, the typical home (about $618K) costs more against local pay than in 87% of Maine towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $4,999, against $3,036 across Maine, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Kennebunk’s median rent is $1,425 a month. The typical Kennebunk home is worth about $618,000, up 1.8% in a year, 50% above the Maine typical home.
| Kennebunk | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,425 a month | $1,106 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 81% | 81% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its widest gap with Maine is food insecurity: 6.5% of its 9,499 adults worry about having enough food, against 10.7% statewide.
29% of Kennebunk adults sleep under 7 hours. Kennebunk beats the Maine average on 19 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 28% of Kennebunk adults feel lonely.
| Kennebunk | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Kennebunk | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.5% | 10.7% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4.9% | 7.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.8% | 9.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 7.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 68% of Maine’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Kennebunkport weather station, 5 miles away, records that 49 inches of snow fall in a normal winter: more than most of the country, but less than 98% of Maine places with climate records. July afternoons average 81.1°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 98% of Maine places with climate records; January nights average 14.2°.
Kennebunk has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Kennebunk is 81°F.
| Kennebunk | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 81°F | 79°F | 85°F |
| January low | 14°F | 10°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
261 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 36 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 65% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 261 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Kennebunk.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Kennebunk has about as many jobs (5,416) as working residents, but only 1,034 people both live and work here. 32.5% of workers work from home, against 15.9% across Maine.
About one in 5 of Kennebunk’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Kennebunk grew to 5,416 in 2023, 934 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Portland (12%), Biddeford (7%) and South Portland (5%).
| Kennebunk | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $108,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 7.3% | 9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kennebunk. Close and well known come first.
25 mi LighthousePortland Head Light
26 mi LandmarkFort Gorges
4 mi MuseumSeashore Trolley Museum
15 mi LighthouseCape Neddick Light
23 mi MuseumStrawbery Banke
18 mi LighthouseBoon Island LightPortland Head Light: Aniarku, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Gorges: Dirk Ingo Franke, CC BY 3.0 · Seashore Trolley Museum: Rene Schwietzke from Jena, Germany, CC BY 2.0 · Cape Neddick Light: Stefan Hillebrand, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Strawbery Banke: Ken Gallager (Ken Gallager from en.wikipedia), Public domain · Boon Island Light: Originally uploaded by Dk69, Public domain
3 within 15 miles of the center of Kennebunk
About 3 of every 100 Kennebunk residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Coastal flooding makes up 10% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
7 places in Kennebunk on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Kennebunk.
Town in Maine, United States
Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 11,536 at the 2020 census. Kennebunk is home to several beaches, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, the 1799 Kennebunk Inn, many historic shipbuilders' homes, the Brick Store Museum and the Nature Conservancy Kennebunk Plains (known locally as the Blueberry Plains), with 1,500 acres (6 km2) of nature trails and blueberry fields. The municipality includes the constituent villages of Kennebunk Village (Town), the Lower Village (Lower Kennebunk), Kennebunk Landing (the Landing), Bartlett Mills, West Kennebunk, Kennebunk Beach, Lords Point, Coopers Corner Crossing, Sea Roads Crossing, Webahennet Grove, and Vin…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Kennebunk.
At #10 in ME, it grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Arundel (A−) comes closest.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kennebunk | #10 | A | C− | A− | A | A− |
| Arundel | #23 | A− | C | — | A | A− |
| Wells | #32 | A− | C | B+ | A | B+ |
| Kennebunkport | #25 | A− | D | A− | A | A− |
Arundel reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Kennebunk with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Kennebunk grades A overall, better than 88% of U.S. towns and #10 of 142 in Maine. It grades A− for health, A− for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
7 notable people were born here, including Hugh McCulloch and Francis H. Kimball.
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