Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lyman is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B+ overall, ranked 44th of 142 in Maine, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools outperform 67% of the state's. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $87K. A typical home there costs about $474K, 5.1 years of the Portland metro’s $92K median household income. Among 143 Maine towns, just 8 have a higher July high than Lyman. The biggest park or preserve is Sid Emery Demonstration Forest, at 118 acres. Among 143 Maine towns, just 10 have a higher share of households owning their home than Lyman.
Where Lyman beats most towns.
Where Lyman’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 Lyman is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 765 in 1790, a low of 370 in 1930, 4,525 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers and 4 maps from 1891 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lyman, 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 Lyman.
Lyman gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and sends most of its workers to Portland and beyond, but it is a long drive from an emergency room.
39 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Lyman’s trail density is 1.0 miles per square mile, above both the Maine town median (0.7) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4).
| Lyman | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7.8% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sid Emery Demonstration Forest | 0.4 mi | 118 |
| 2. Bunganut Town Park | 0.1 mi | 101 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by RSU 57/MSAD 57. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyman Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 241 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Lyman has 536 jobs for its 2,305 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 33.2 minutes, against 24.6 across Maine.
Most working residents leave Lyman for work: only 6% work in town. Lyman’s average trip to work is 33 minutes, above both Maine’s towns (25 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Jobs based in Lyman grew to 536 in 2023, 150 more than in 2013.
| Lyman | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.7% | 12% | 8% |
| Median household income | $87,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 77% of U.S. communities. Since 2005, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lyman.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Hollis weather station, 10 miles away, records that 81 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 95% of U.S. towns. The Hollis weather station, 10 miles away, records that about 7 days a year reach 90°: fewer than most of the country, but more than 96% of Maine places with climate records.
Lyman has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. The January low in Lyman is 13°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Lyman home is worth about $474,000, about the same as a year ago, 15% above the Maine typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The nearest emergency room, Mainehealth Maine Medical Center, is 21.5 miles away in a straight line.
Lyman beats the Maine average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 32% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Lyman.
| Lyman | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 33% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 27% | 23% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 35% | 35% |
| What stands out | Lyman | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.5% | 14.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lyman. Close and well known come first.
35 mi LakeLake Winnipesaukee
24 mi LighthousePortland Head Light
24 mi LandmarkFort Gorges
23 mi LighthouseCape Neddick Light
10 mi MuseumSeashore Trolley Museum
11 mi Theme parkFuntown Splashtown USALake Winnipesaukee: No machine-readable author provided. JohnJHenderson~commonswiki assumed (based o, Public domain · Portland Head Light: Aniarku, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Gorges: Dirk Ingo Franke, CC BY 3.0 · Cape Neddick Light: Stefan Hillebrand, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Seashore Trolley Museum: Rene Schwietzke from Jena, Germany, CC BY 2.0 · Funtown Splashtown USA: Paulec252, CC BY-SA 4.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Lyman
About 3 of every 100 Lyman residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Town in Maine, United States
Lyman is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,525 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area. Lyman, together with Alfred, is home to the Massabesic Experimental Forest.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Lyman.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyman | #44 | B+ | B | — | B+ | B |
| Alfred | #63 | B− | C+ | — | B+ | B |
| Dayton | — | — | B− | — | B+ | B |
| Waterboro | #39 | B+ | B | — | B+ | B |
| Hollis | #61 | B | B | — | C+ | B |
| Arundel | #23 | A− | C | — | A | A− |
Dayton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Lyman, Alfred, Dayton, Waterboro, Hollis and Arundel report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Lyman with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Lyman grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #44 of 142 in Maine. It grades B for health and B+ for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
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