Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Old Town grades C− overall, ranked 105th of 142 in Maine, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. On the other side, its schools rank behind 85% of the state's. It also does better than most on safety: it reports less crime per resident than 69% of U.S. towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $252K, 3.8 years of the Bangor metro’s $66K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 92% of U.S. towns, with 4 places on the National Register. 26% of the land in Old Town is conserved, against 4.7% in Maine’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. Only 10 of Maine’s 285 towns score lower on hazard risk. The biggest park or preserve is Caribou Bog Wildlife Management Area, at 1,678 acres.
Where Old Town beats most towns.
St. Anne's Church and Mission Site
Census counts: 2,342 in 1840, 7,431 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1865 and 5 maps from 1902 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Old Town is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Old Town, 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 Old Town.
Old Town has fewer 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and is safe by national standards but not by Maine’s; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Maine (mostly inland flooding).
40 miles of trail in 12 parks and preserves. At 0.9 miles per square mile, Old Town’s trail density is where Maine’s towns sit at 0.7 and U.S. towns at 0.4.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Dwight B. Demeritt Forest | 10.4 mi | 1,074 |
| 2. Hirundo Wildlife Refuge | 3.1 mi | 1,614 |
| 3. Caribou Bog Wildlife Management Area | 0.9 mi | 1,678 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by RSU 34. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Old Town High School, with 531 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Town Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 488 | C+ |
| Old Town High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 531 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
59% of households own their home in Old Town. The typical Old Town home is worth about $252,000, up 1% in a year, 39% below the Maine typical home. The median rent in Old Town is $989 a month.
| Old Town | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $989 a month | $1,108 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Old Town for work: only 12% work in town. 21% of Old Town residents live below the poverty line. Among 143 Maine towns, just 5 have a lower median household income than Old Town.
| Old Town | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 12% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 11.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 52% of Maine’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 99 to 74 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Old Town’s violent crime rate is 0 per 1,000 residents.
| Old Town | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 0.6 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.8 per 1,000 residents | 7.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Bangor Intl Ap weather station, 11 miles away, records that about 6 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 95% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 79.9°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 88% of Maine places with climate records; January nights average 8.7°.
Old Town has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. About 75 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Old Town | 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
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 98% of Maine towns, with expected losses of about $292 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
Only 3 of the 143 Maine towns we compare have a higher FEMA risk score than Old Town. Since 1984, 17 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Old Town.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
21.3% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.7% across Maine, which weighs on its C for jobs and income.
People 65 and older are 17% of residents (22% statewide). Among 143 Maine towns, just 5 have a lower median age than Old Town. Old Town has grown 2.1% since 2020, to 7,589 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Old Town | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 37 years | 45 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 22% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 32% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 18% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.6 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Old Town | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.8% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.1% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.4% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 19% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.5% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.2% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.1% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.8% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.3% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.4% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.9% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 16.6% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.1% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 20.7% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Against the 6,329 U.S. towns with household incomes like Old Town’s, it is healthier than 81%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Old Town beats the Maine average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. Only 8 of the 143 Maine towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Old Town.
| Old Town | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 32% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 33% | 36% |
| What stands out | Old Town | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 8.2% | 9.9% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 28.2% | 32% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19% | 14.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
4 within 15 miles of the center of Old Town
About 13 of every 100 Old Town residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Where Old Town’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Old Town on the National Register of Historic Places.
15 notable people were born in Old Town.
City in Maine, United States
Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census. The city's developed area is chiefly located on the relatively large Marsh Island, but its boundaries extend beyond it. The island is surrounded and defined by the Penobscot River to the east and the Stillwater River to the west.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Old Town.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Town | #105 | C− | C | B+ | C− | C+ |
| Orono | – | A | D | A+ | A− | B+ |
| Milford | #79 | C+ | B+ | — | B+ | D |
| Bradley | — | — | B | — | C− | D |
| Alton | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Bradley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Milford and Bradley report no FBI crime data of their own. Alton isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Old Town with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Old Town grades C− overall, better than 23% of U.S. towns and #105 of 142 in Maine. It grades C+ for health, B+ for safety and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
15 notable people were born here, including Tabitha King and Doris Twitchell Allen.
