Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
The best of Porter’s subject grades is an A− for history; the weakest is a C− for walkability. On hazard risk, just 25 of Maine’s 285 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Porter Old Meetinghouse and Porter-Parsonfield Bridge. Porter has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Porter beats most towns.
Where Porter’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 Porter is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 292 in 1810, 1,600 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 2010 and 3 maps from 1910 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Porter, 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 Porter.
Most working residents leave Porter for work: only 6% work in town. Porter’s average trip to work is 32 minutes, above both Maine’s towns (25 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). The median household income in Porter is $60,000.
| Porter | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.7% | 12% | 8% |
| Work from home | 16% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Porter home is worth about $288,000, up 1.3% in a year, 30% below the Maine typical home. 87% of Porter households own their home, above both the Maine town median (81%) and the median of U.S. towns (73%).
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Porter beats the Maine average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 17% of Porter adults report frequent physical distress.
| Porter | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Porter | ME |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 14.6% | 10.7% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 12.8% | 9.8% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 9.6% | 7.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Porter has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. Porter’s July high is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 57% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
33 miles of trail in 11 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Bald Ledge Summit, at 195 acres.
| Porter | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.4% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bald Ledge Summit | 0.8 mi | 195 |
| 2. Devil's Den | 0.7 mi | 45 |
| 3. Bald Ledge Preserve | 0.3 mi | 24 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Porter. Close and well known come first.
Big draw35 mi MountainMount Washington
25 mi LakeLake Winnipesaukee
40 mi LighthousePortland Head Light
17 mi Scenic railwayConway Scenic Railroad
29 mi National forestWhite Mountain National Forest
38 mi LandmarkFort GorgesMount Washington: wwoods, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Winnipesaukee: No machine-readable author provided. JohnJHenderson~commonswiki assumed (based o, Public domain · Portland Head Light: Aniarku, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Conway Scenic Railroad: Pi.1415926535, CC BY-SA 3.0 · White Mountain National Forest: Ken Gallager at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Fort Gorges: Dirk Ingo Franke, CC BY 3.0
None within 15 miles of Porter; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Porter residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
2 places in Porter on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Maine, United States
Porter is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. It is included in the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine metropolitan New England City and Town Area. Porter includes Porter village and part of Kezar Falls. The population was 1,600 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Porter.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porter | — | — | B− | — | B− | C |
| Parsonsfield | — | — | B+ | — | B− | C |
| Hiram | — | — | C− | — | B− | C |
| Brownfield | — | — | D | — | C+ | C+ |
Porter, Parsonsfield, Hiram and Brownfield have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Porter, Parsonsfield, Hiram and Brownfield report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Porter with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
2 notable people were born here, including Harry Lord and Samuel Wadsworth Gould.
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