Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2.3 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Maine town.
Waterford’s best subject grades are an A for civic life and history; its weakest is a D for incomes. Waterford’s average trip to work is 34 minutes, above both the Maine town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 82% of U.S. towns. Only 2 of the 144 Maine towns we compare have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Waterford. 11% of the land in Waterford is conserved, above both the Maine town median (4.7%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Waterford has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Waterford Historic District and McWain-Hall House. Waterford has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Waterford beats most towns.
Waterford Historic District
Census counts: 154 in 1790, a low of 154 in 1790, 1,570 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1860 and 3 maps from 1896 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Waterford is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Waterford, 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 Waterford.
Its public schools are run by RSU 17/MSAD 17. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waterford Memorial SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 77 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Waterford for work: only 3% work in town. 16% of residents live below the poverty line in Waterford. Jobs based in Waterford grew to 117 in 2023, 34 more than in 2013.
| Waterford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Waterford has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Waterford is 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Waterford home is worth about $346,000, up 1% in a year, 16% below the Maine typical home. Waterford’s median rent is $870 a month.
| Waterford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 88% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $870 a month | $1,106 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (20% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (40% statewide). 13% of Waterford residents are under 18. Waterford has grown 3.9% since 2020, to 1,632 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Waterford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 54.3 years | 44.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 13% | 18% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 28% | 22% | 18% |
53% women, 47% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.1 points. Across Maine, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Waterford | ME | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5.5% | 9.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.4% | 8.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.7% | 8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.3% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.1% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.2% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 18.1% | 15.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.8% | 13.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11% | 8.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.8% | 5.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.5% | 30.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.3% | 18.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11% | 10.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.2% | 22.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.3% | 13.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,600, single groups can be off by several points
43 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Hawk Mountain Preserve, 165 acres with 2.8 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hawk Mountain Preserve | 2.8 mi | 165 |
| 2. Northern Retreat - Crooked River Headwaters Conservation Easement | 1.3 mi | 2,645 |
| 3. Mount Tire'm | 0.5 mi | 33 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Waterford beats the Maine average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8.
| Waterford | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 35% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Waterford | ME |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.8% | 14.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.4% | 8.4% |
| More adults with diabetes | 13.7% | 11.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 55% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Waterford. Close and well known come first.
Big draw29 mi MountainMount Washington
23 mi Scenic railwayConway Scenic Railroad
34 mi National forestWhite Mountain National Forest
24 mi Theme parkStory Land20 mi Ski areaSunday River146 runs · 2,322 ft vertical27 mi Ski areaAttitash Mountain Resort85 runs · 1,662 ft verticalMount Washington: wwoods, 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 · Story Land: AnotherMaker, CC BY-SA 4.0
None within 15 miles of Waterford; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Waterford residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maine.
Where Waterford’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Waterford on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Maine, United States
Waterford is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. Waterford is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 1,570 at the 2020 census. It is a recreation area noted for historic architecture and scenery.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Waterford.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterford | — | — | C+ | — | D | C+ |
| Norway | #133 | D | B− | B | D | D |
| Harrison | #136 | D | B | — | D | C+ |
| Stoneham | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sweden | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bridgton | #116 | C− | B− | — | C− | B− |
| Lovell | — | — | C− | — | C+ | C+ |
Waterford and Lovell have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Waterford, Harrison, Bridgton and Lovell report no FBI crime data of their own. Stoneham and Sweden aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Waterford with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
2.3 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Maine town.
That is 5.8 years of the area's median household income ($60,173 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+.
