Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Shapleigh is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B overall, 53rd among Maine's 142 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its public schools beat 67% of Maine towns on state tests and graduation. A typical home there costs about $413K, 4.5 years of the Portland metro’s $92K median household income. 22% of the land in Shapleigh is conserved, above both Maine’s towns (4.7%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest place to walk is Vernon S. Walker Wildlife Management Area, 2,993 acres with 14.7 miles of trail. Only 16 of Maine’s 285 towns score lower on civic life.
Where Shapleigh beats most towns.
Where Shapleigh’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 Shapleigh is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,320 in 1790, a low of 290 in 1940, 2,921 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1794 and 5 maps from 1891 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Shapleigh, 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 Shapleigh.
Shapleigh gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, sends most of its workers to Sanford and beyond and has home values lagging Maine’s.
35 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. At 0.8 miles per square mile, Shapleigh’s trail density is near the Maine town median (0.7) and above the median of U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Vernon S. Walker Wildlife Management Area | 14.7 mi | 2,993 |
| 2. Waterboro Barrens Preserve | 2.1 mi | 673 |
| 3. Shapleigh Town Forest | 1.6 mi | 385 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by RSU 57/MSAD 57. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shapleigh Memorial SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 153 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Shapleigh has 241 jobs for its 1,295 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 32.5 minutes, against 24.6 across Maine.
3.2% of working residents work locally in Shapleigh. Jobs based in Shapleigh grew to 241 in 2023, 108 more than in 2013. The average trip to work in Shapleigh is 33 minutes.
| Shapleigh | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.2% | 12% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.3% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $88,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Hollis weather station, 10 miles away, records that 81 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 95% of U.S. towns. The Hollis weather station, 10 miles away, records that about 7 days a year reach 90°: fewer than most of the country, but more than 96% of Maine places with climate records.
Shapleigh has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. Shapleigh’s July high is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 35 to 64 are 35% of residents (40% statewide). 24% of Shapleigh residents are 65 or older. Shapleigh has grown 3.6% since 2020, to 3,025 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Shapleigh | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 24% | 21% | 18% |
| Median age | 46.9 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 21% | 18% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.4 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Shapleigh | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.9% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.7% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.4% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.8% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.1% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.6% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 18.3% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 17.9% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.1% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.2% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.7% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.7% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.7% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.7% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,000, single groups can be off by several points
Shapleigh tracks Maine closely on all 32 CDC measures.
| Shapleigh | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 33% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 16% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 27% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At about $413K, home values are up 11% in five years, against a rise of 27% across Maine.
Only 7 of the 143 Maine towns we compare have a higher share of households owning their home than Shapleigh.
| Shapleigh | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 95% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,349 a month | $1,106 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Shapleigh. Close and well known come first.
25 mi LakeLake Winnipesaukee
32 mi LighthousePortland Head Light
32 mi LandmarkFort Gorges
37 mi Scenic railwayConway Scenic Railroad
30 mi LighthouseCape Neddick Light
20 mi MuseumSeashore Trolley MuseumLake Winnipesaukee: No machine-readable author provided. JohnJHenderson~commonswiki assumed (based o, Public domain · Portland Head Light: Aniarku, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Gorges: Dirk Ingo Franke, CC BY 3.0 · Conway Scenic Railroad: Pi.1415926535, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cape Neddick Light: Stefan Hillebrand, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Seashore Trolley Museum: Rene Schwietzke from Jena, Germany, CC BY 2.0
None within 15 miles of Shapleigh; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Shapleigh residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Town in Maine, United States
Shapleigh, pronounced "SHAP-lee", is a town in York County, Maine, United States which was incorporated as the state's 43rd town in 1785. The population was 2,921 at the 2020 census. Shapleigh is divided into the villages of North Shapleigh, Shapleigh Corner, Ross Corner and Emery Mills. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Shapleigh.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Alfred (B−) comes closest.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shapleigh | #53 | B | B− | — | B+ | B− |
| Newfield | — | — | C | — | B+ | B− |
| Acton | #68 | B− | C+ | — | B+ | B |
| Sanford | #104 | C− | C+ | C | C+ | C+ |
| Alfred | #63 | B− | C+ | — | B+ | B |
Newfield has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Shapleigh, Newfield, Acton and Alfred report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Shapleigh with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Shapleigh grades B overall, better than 58% of U.S. towns and #53 of 142 in Maine. It grades B− for health and B+ for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
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