Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Mount Desert’s best subject grades are an A+ for schools, an A for health, and an A− for walkability; its weakest is a C− for cost of living. 64% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Mount Desert, above both the Maine town median (32%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). On health, just 9 of Maine’s 285 towns do better. 41% of the land in Mount Desert is conserved, where Maine’s towns sit at 4.7% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Mount Desert's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 100% of U.S. towns. Acadia National Park, at 9,883 acres with 78.4 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Mount Desert has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Mount Desert beats most towns.
Somesville Historic District
Census counts: 744 in 1790, a low of 721 in 1800, 2,146 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1622 and 4 maps from 1904 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Mount Desert is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Mount Desert. Close and well known come first.
Big drawin town National ParkAcadia National Park4.1M visitors a year
5 mi MountainCadillac Mountain
28 mi LandmarkFort Knox
8 mi LighthouseBass Harbor Head Light
7 mi MuseumAbbe Museum
31 mi MuseumPenobscot Marine MuseumAcadia National Park: Plh1234us, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cadillac Mountain: The original uploader was NightThree at English Wikipedia., CC BY 2.0 · Fort Knox: Unknown, Public domain · Bass Harbor Head Light: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Abbe Museum: AbbeMuseum, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Penobscot Marine Museum: John Smith, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mount Desert, 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 Mount Desert.
The typical Mount Desert home is worth about $927,000, up 1.8% in a year, more than twice the Maine typical home. The median rent in Mount Desert is $1,341 a month.
| Mount Desert | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 85% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,341 a month | $1,106 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Mount Desert Public Schools. One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mt Desert Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 161 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Mount Desert’s trail density is 2.0 miles per square mile. 110 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Acadia National Park | 78.4 mi | 9,883 |
| 2. Babson Creek Preserve | 0.5 mi | 34 |
| 3. Suminsby Park | — | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
14% of adults report frequent mental distress in Mount Desert. Only 3 of the 144 Maine towns we compare have a lower share of adults who feel lonely than Mount Desert. 15% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Mount Desert.
| Mount Desert | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 85% | 81% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Mount Desert | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.1% | 14.8% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.4% | 10.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.7% | 9.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Mount Desert has cold winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 77° and January nights drop to 14°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 5 of Mount Desert’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Mount Desert has added 71 jobs, to 743 in 2023. The top destinations are Bar Harbor (32%), Ellsworth (7%) and Southwest Harbor (7%).
| Mount Desert | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 12% | 8% |
| Median household income | $93,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.4% | 9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 62% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Mount Desert
About 4 of every 100 Mount Desert residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Coastal flooding makes up 19% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
11 places in Mount Desert on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Maine, United States
Mount Desert is a town located on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,146 at the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1789, the town comprises the villages of Otter Creek, Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Somesville, Hall Quarry, and Pretty Marsh.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Mount Desert.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Desert | — | — | C− | — | A+ | A |
| Bar Harbor | #18 | A− | D | A | A+ | A− |
| Cranberry Isles | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tremont | — | — | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Southwest Harbor | — | — | C− | A− | A | A− |
| Northeast Harbor | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Blue Hill | #47 | B | C | — | B+ | B+ |
| Surry | — | — | B− | — | C | B+ |
Mount Desert, Tremont, Southwest Harbor and Surry have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Mount Desert, Tremont, Blue Hill and Surry report no FBI crime data of their own. Cranberry Isles and Northeast Harbor aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Mount Desert with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
7.3 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Maine town.
Yes. That is 12.7 years of the area's median household income ($72,744 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
