Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Maine

Dixmont, Maine

Dixmont is a small town of about 1,200 people in Penobscot County, Maine. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.5 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Boston, is about 188 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,215
up 0.6% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$190,700
Penobscot County prices up 25% since 2022
Household income
$75,952
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Bangor area
96.5
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
13 miles
Pittsfield, ME
To Boston
188 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 3.5% below the U.S. average in the Bangor metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Dixmont itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Ecology Learning Ctr, about 11 miles away.
  • A hospital close byNorthern Light Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield, about 13 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBoston is about 188 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Dixmont meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$190,700U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 25%Penobscot County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,348 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$75,952U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$1,548 a yearMaine: $3,036
Homes built before 1940
11%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
7%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
96.5U.S. average = 100 (the Bangor metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 25% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Bangor metro area, not Dixmont alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,2152020: 1,208
Median age
50.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
19%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
16%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
25%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
5%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (31%); retail (19%); manufacturing (9%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
35 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
22%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
8%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Northern Light Sebasticook Valley Hospital, Pittsfield, ME, about 13 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: St. Joseph Hospital, Bangor, ME, about 20 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Dixmont, run by Rsu 19. The nearest public high school is Ecology Learning Ctr, about 11 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Maine's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
60%U.S.: 76%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
6°F
July average high
80°F
Days 90°F or hotter
5 a year
Nights at or below freezing
175 a year
Rain and melted snow
44.7 inches a year
Snow
72 inches a year
Elevation
309 feet

Weather station: Corinna (16 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Northern Light Sebasticook Valley Hospital, Portland, Boston.

Penobscot County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Acadia National Park42 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail45 miles
  • Frances Perkins National Monument52 miles

Read about Dixmont's history on Wikipedia.

Know Dixmont?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Jackson, ME614 people, 6 miles
  • Monroe, ME941 people, 8 miles
  • Thorndike, ME802 people, 9 miles
  • Detroit, ME929 people, 9 miles
  • Knox, ME811 people, 13 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.