Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,494, settled in 1921. 52% more nonprofits per person than the typical Maine town.
Owls Head’s best subject grades are an A− for health and the outdoors and an A+ for civic life; its weakest is a C for schools. 32% of residents are 65 or older in Owls Head, where Maine’s towns sit at 22% and U.S. towns at 18%. Only 1 of the 144 Maine towns we compare have a lower July high than Owls Head. Owls Head is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 71% of U.S. towns. On civic life, just 18 of Maine’s 285 towns do better. Owls Head Light Station is on the National Register of Historic Places. Owls Head has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Owls Head beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Owls Head | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.5% | 10.7% |
Coastal flooding makes up 20% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Owls Head is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 574 in 1930, 1,504 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1862 and 4 maps from 1904 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Owls Head, 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 Owls Head.
Owls Head beats the Maine average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 28% of Owls Head adults sleep under 7 hours, against 33% in Maine’s towns and 36% across U.S. towns. 14% of adults report frequent mental distress in Owls Head.
| Owls Head | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Owls Head | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.5% | 10.7% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.7% | 14.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.3% | 9.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by RSU 13. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ash Point Community SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 158 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Owls Head for work: only 5% work in town. The average trip to work in Owls Head is 16 minutes. Jobs based in Owls Head grew to 216 in 2023, 51 more than in 2013.
| Owls Head | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.7% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.8% | 12% | 8% |
| Median household income | $87,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Owls Head’s median age is 52.6 years. 39% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across Maine. 14% of Owls Head residents are under 18.
| Owls Head | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 52.6 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 14% | 18% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 39% | 32% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±8.6 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Owls Head | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.4% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.2% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.2% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.9% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.5% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.1% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.9% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.6% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 17.3% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.7% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.3% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.7% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.9% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.9% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.5% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,500, single groups can be off by several points
Owls Head has cold, snowy winters and cool summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 75°, January nights drop to 14° and about 69 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Owls Head home is worth about $491,000, down 2.4% in a year, 19% above the Maine typical home.
| Owls Head | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 82% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,191 a month | $1,106 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 65% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Owls Head.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
5.9 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Monroe Island Preserve, 222 acres with 2.2 miles of trail.
| Owls Head | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.7% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Monroe Island Preserve | 2.2 mi | 222 |
| 2. Ash Point Preserve | 1 mi | 34 |
| 3. Plaisted Preserve | 0.6 mi | 17 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Owls Head. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi National ParkAcadia National Park4.1M visitors a year
35 mi LandmarkFort Knox
3 mi MuseumFarnsworth Art Museum
28 mi LighthousePemaquid Point Light
37 mi LighthouseBass Harbor Head Light
34 mi GardenCoastal Maine Botanical GardensAcadia National Park: Plh1234us, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Knox: Unknown, Public domain · Farnsworth Art Museum: Panoramio user MementoMori, CC BY 3.0 · Pemaquid Point Light: WestportWiki, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bass Harbor Head Light: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens: CMBG editor, CC BY-SA 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Owls Head
About 3 of every 100 Owls Head residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Town in Maine, United States
Owls Head is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,504 at the 2020 census. A resort and fishing area, the community is home to the Knox County Regional Airport. It includes the village of Ash Point.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
52% more nonprofits per person than the typical Maine town.
That is 6.6 years of the area's median household income ($74,096 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.
