Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,219.
Waterboro gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $405K for a typical one, or 4.4 years of the Portland metro’s $92K median household income. It grades B+ overall, 39th among Maine's 142 graded towns. Waterboro’s average trip to work is 35 minutes, above both Maine’s towns (25 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. Waterboro Barrens Preserve, at 1,991 acres with 8.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Waterboro beats most towns.
Where Waterboro’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 Waterboro is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 971 in 1790, a low of 914 in 1930, 7,936 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 3 maps from 1891 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Waterboro, 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 Waterboro.
Waterboro gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns, but it is a long drive from an emergency room and has commutes longer than most of Maine.
53 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. Waterboro’s trail density is 0.9 miles per square mile.
| Waterboro | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.8% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Waterboro Barrens Preserve | 8.8 mi | 1,991 |
| 2. Knight-Cluff | 1.2 mi | 125 |
| 3. Vernon S. Walker Wildlife Management Area | 0.9 mi | 301 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by RSU 57/MSAD 57. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Massabesic High School, with 867 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massabesic Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 619 | B |
| Massabesic High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 867 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
The average commute for its 4,154 working residents takes 35 minutes, against 24.6 across Maine.
Most working residents leave Waterboro for work: only 8% work in town. Jobs based in Waterboro grew to 1,464 in 2023, 193 more than in 2013. 6% of Waterboro residents live below the poverty line.
| Waterboro | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 6% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 10% | 15% | 11% |
| Median household income | $89,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 8.3% | 12% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 72% of U.S. communities. Since 2007, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Waterboro.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Hollis weather station records that 81 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 95% of U.S. towns. The Hollis weather station records that about 7 days a year reach 90°: fewer than most of the country, but more than 90% of Maine places with climate records.
Waterboro has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Waterboro is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The nearest emergency room, Mainehealth Maine Medical Center, is 22.9 miles away in a straight line.
Waterboro beats the Maine average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 19% of adults binge drink in Waterboro. Only 3 of the 143 Maine towns we compare have a lower share of adults who had a checkup this year than Waterboro.
| Waterboro | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.4% | 11% | 12% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Waterboro | ME |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.9% | 14.8% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 6% | 7.6% |
| More binge drinkers | 18.9% | 15.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Waterboro home is worth about $405,000, down 0.8% in a year, close to the Maine typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Waterboro. Close and well known come first.
30 mi LakeLake Winnipesaukee
26 mi LighthousePortland Head Light
26 mi LandmarkFort Gorges
37 mi Scenic railwayConway Scenic Railroad
31 mi LighthouseCape Neddick Light
18 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 Waterboro; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Waterboro residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maine.
5 places in Waterboro on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Waterboro.
Town in Maine, United States
Waterboro is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,936 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. The town includes the districts of North (04061), South (04087), and East (04030) Waterboro, in addition to the largest development in southern Maine, Lake Arrowhead Community. The introduction of Maine subdivision regulation, and Maine Planning Boards, is the direct result of the creation of the largest subdivision, Lake Arrowhead Community. The reaction of the Maine State Legislature was mandatory Planning Boards, and subdivision regulation.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Waterboro.
It grades higher overall than all 5 graded towns on its borders; Lyman (B+) comes closest.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterboro | #39 | B+ | B | — | B+ | B |
| Limerick | #49 | B | C+ | — | B+ | B |
| Alfred | #63 | B− | C+ | — | B+ | B |
| Limington | #57 | B | B+ | — | C+ | B− |
| Lake Arrowhead | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lyman | #44 | B+ | B | — | B+ | B |
| Hollis | #61 | B | B | — | C+ | B |
Waterboro, Limerick, Alfred, Limington, Lyman and Hollis report no FBI crime data of their own. Lake Arrowhead isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Waterboro with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Waterboro grades B+ overall, better than 70% of U.S. towns and #39 of 142 in Maine. It grades B for health and B+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
3 notable people were born here, including Amos L. Allen and James Arthur Roberts.
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