Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Maine.
Milford gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $226K, 3.4 years of the Bangor metro’s $66K median household income. It grades C+ overall, ranked 79th of 142 in Maine. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 86% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. 54% of the land in Milford is conserved, against 4.7% in Maine’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. On hazard risk, just 23 of Maine’s 285 towns do worse. The biggest place to walk is Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, 11,500 acres with 13.7 miles of trail.
Where Milford beats most towns.
Where Milford’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 Milford is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 474 in 1840, 3,069 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2018 and 5 maps from 1902 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Milford, 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 Milford.
Milford keeps more of its land conserved than most of Maine, has fewer 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and has better schools than Old Town or any other neighbor.
Its 15,731 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in any other Maine town.
30 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge | 13.7 mi | 11,500 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its B+ is the best School Grade on its borders; Old Town (C−) is next.
Its public schools are run by the Milford Public Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Lewis S Libby SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 273 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests
21% of Milford adults report frequent mental distress, above both Maine’s towns (18%) and U.S. towns (17%). 36% of Milford adults feel lonely. Milford beats the Maine average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19.
| Milford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 27% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Milford | ME |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21% | 14.8% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 15% | 10.7% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 10.5% | 7.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
88% of households own their home in Milford. The typical Milford home is worth about $226,000, up 0.8% in a year, 45% below the Maine typical home. The median rent in Milford is $943 a month.
| Milford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 88% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $943 a month | $1,108 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Milford has 345 jobs for its 1,276 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Milford for work: only 4% work in town. Since 2013, Milford has lost 28 jobs, to 345 in 2023. Milford’s average trip to work is 23 minutes.
| Milford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5.3% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.5% | 12% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $85,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Bangor Intl Ap weather station, 18 miles away, records that about 6 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 95% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 80.1°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 91% of Maine places with climate records; January nights average 8.6°.
Milford has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. About 75 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Milford | 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
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 57% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 41 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Milford.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Milford
About 5 of every 100 Milford residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maine.
Town in Maine, United States
Milford is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is located across the Penobscot River from the city of Old Town. The population of Milford was 3,069 at the 2020 census. It contains the census-designated place of the same name. The town's slogan is the "Best little town by a dam site," referring to the Milford Dam abutting Milford on the Penobscot River, south of the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Milford.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milford | #79 | C+ | B+ | — | B+ | D |
| Old Town | #105 | C− | C | B+ | C− | C+ |
| Bradley | — | — | B | — | C− | D |
| Greenbush | — | — | A | — | D | D |
Bradley and Greenbush have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Milford, Bradley and Greenbush report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Milford with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Milford grades C+ overall, better than 41% of U.S. towns and #79 of 142 in Maine. It grades D for health and B+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
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+.