Maine · off-grid scores, county by county · 2026

Which Maine counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 16 Maine counties we have scored, Androscoggin County scores highest at 94 and Piscataquis County lowest at 79. Maine ranks 29th of 50 overall, at 85 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Buildability separates its counties most: 7 to 10 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 16 counties · 211 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsMaine ranks 29th of 50, 85 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #25 and #31. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in Maine, best score first

Find a county16 counties


Androscoggin → 243 people / sq mi	94	25	20	13	14	12	10
Cumberland → 371 people / sq mi	93	25	20	13	14	12	9
Sagadahoc → 148 people / sq mi	92	25	20	13	14	10	10
Lincoln → 80 people / sq mi	91	25	20	13	14	12	7
York → 221 people / sq mi	91	25	20	13	14	11	8
Kennebec → 147 people / sq mi	88	25	20	13	14	9	7
Knox → 112 people / sq mi	88	25	20	13	14	9	7
Waldo → 56 people / sq mi	88	25	20	12	14	10	7
Washington → 12 people / sq mi	88	25	19	12	15	10	7
Hancock → 36 people / sq mi	87	25	20	12	14	9	7
Oxford → 29 people / sq mi	87	25	19	12	14	10	7
Penobscot → 46 people / sq mi	87	25	19	11	15	10	7
Franklin → 18 people / sq mi	86	25	19	10	15	10	7
Aroostook → 10 people / sq mi	81	25	17	9	14	9	7
Somerset → 13 people / sq mi	81	25	16	10	14	9	7
Piscataquis → 4 people / sq mi	79	24	16	10	13	9	7

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

75% of Maine's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Androscoggin, Cumberland and Sagadahoc. The weakest are Piscataquis, Aroostook and Somerset. Where the land falls short, it is most often on energy (sun, and heating and cooling needs) and growing food (season, soil and water for crops).

What separates them

Buildability: Androscoggin County scores 10 of 10, Piscataquis County 7. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Solar: Androscoggin County scores 13 of 15, Aroostook County 9. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.
Legal: Androscoggin County scores 20 of 20, Piscataquis County 16. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.
Food: Androscoggin County scores 12 of 15, Piscataquis County 9. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.

Hazard and Water barely move across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Food is Maine's weakest dimension, at 10 of 15 for the state as a whole. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $31k to $90k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Maine row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in Maine

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Maine? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsMaine: 85 of 100, 29th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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