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Towns / Maine

Unity, Maine

Unity is a small town of about 2,300 people in Waldo County, Maine. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.3 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 175 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,307
up 0.8% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$206,900
Waldo County prices up 24% since 2022
Household income
$62,857
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Maine
91.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
15 miles
Pittsfield, ME
To Boston
175 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 8.4% below the U.S. average in the parts of Maine outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.3 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 Unity 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 town2 public schools: 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byNorthern Light Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield, about 15 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityBoston is about 175 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 Unity 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
$206,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 24%Waldo County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$873 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$62,857U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
72%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,510 a yearMaine: $3,036
Homes built before 1940
12%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
7%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
15%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
91.6U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Maine outside metro areas)

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 parts of Maine outside metro areas, not Unity 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
2,3072020: 2,289
Median age
27.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
12%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
14%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
22%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
16%U.S.: 6%
College students
30%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 (25%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (17%); manufacturing (14%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
16%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
17%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 15 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: Maine General Medical Center, Augusta, ME, about 25 miles away. 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

2 public schools in Unity, run by Rsu 03/msad 03 and Ecology Learning Center.

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
75%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
90%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
9°F
July average high
80°F
Days 90°F or hotter
6 a year
Nights at or below freezing
164 a year
Rain and melted snow
46.7 inches a year
Snow
86 inches a year
Elevation
335 feet

Weather stations: Waterville Trtmt Plt (15 miles away) and Albion (5 miles away, rain and snow). 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.

Waldo County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Frances Perkins National Monument40 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail50 miles
  • Acadia National Park50 miles

Read about Unity's history on Wikipedia.

Know Unity?

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

  • Freedom, ME745 people, 5 miles
  • Thorndike, ME802 people, 6 miles
  • Knox, ME811 people, 8 miles
  • Jackson, ME614 people, 11 miles
  • Liberty, ME945 people, 14 miles
  • Detroit, ME929 people, 14 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.