Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Maine

Lewiston, Maine

Lewiston is a small city of about 39,000 people in Androscoggin County, Maine. It has grown about 5% since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.2 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 128 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
38,866
up 4.7% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$235,100
Androscoggin County prices up 24% since 2022
Household income
$55,393
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Lewiston area
94.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
St. Mary's Regional Medical Center
To Boston
128 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 5.3% below the U.S. average in the Lewiston-Auburn metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.2 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood95 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 13.7 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town17 public schools: 12 elementary, 3 middle and 2 high schools.
  • A hospital close bySt. Mary's Regional Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBoston is about 128 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 Lewiston 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
$235,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 24%Androscoggin County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$986 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$55,393U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
51%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,899 a yearMaine: $3,036
Homes built before 1940
32%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
94.7U.S. average = 100 (the Lewiston-Auburn 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 24% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Lewiston-Auburn metro area, not Lewiston 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
38,8662020: 37,110
Median age
37.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
18%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
21%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
23%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
5%U.S.: 6%
College students
10%share of all residents

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 (12%); manufacturing (11%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
12%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
20%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: St. Mary's Regional Medical Center, Lewiston, ME, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 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

17 public schools in Lewiston, run by Lewiston Public Schools and Auburn Public Schools.

Colleges in or next to town: Bates College (1,000 to 4,999 students); Central Maine Community College (1,000 to 4,999 students); Maine College of Health Professions (under 1,000 students).

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
72%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
86%U.S.: 91%

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
12°F
July average high
80°F
Days 90°F or hotter
10 a year
Nights at or below freezing
141 a year
Rain and melted snow
45.2 inches a year
Snow
65 inches a year
Elevation
299 feet

Weather station: Lewiston (2 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: Portland, Boston.

Androscoggin 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

49 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Bates Mill Historic District, the Lewiston Commercial Historic District, the Lewiston Mills and Water Power System Historic District and the Lower Lisbon Street Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Frances Perkins National Monument31 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail50 miles

Campus life. Check Bates College's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Lewiston's history on Wikipedia.

Know Lewiston?

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

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.