Wells, Maine.
Typical home $588,815 (+2.9% in a year), asking rent $2,064 . Portland-South Portland, ME metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,880 (+155%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $16,351 +3%
- $572,464$588,815 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $158,831 +37%
- $429,984$588,815 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Wells$3,091
- Maine$2,162
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 11 years.
Typical home values in Wells, ME rose 2.9% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Wells, York County, Maine
Wells is a town of 11,314 people in York County. Half its households earn more than $88,024 a year and half less, against $88,333 across York County; 7% of its people live below the poverty line. 90% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 10% are rented. Unemployment in York County was 2.8% in August 2026, and the county had 0.3% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Wells is a coastal town in York County where most homes are lived in by their owners, and the population skews older than in most places. Incomes sit close to the county's, and a good share of adults hold a four-year degree. Winters are cold and snowy, with January the coldest month, while July brings warm days and the year is fairly wet overall.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with shops, banks and insurance, and restaurants and hotels also employing a good number. Among the largest workplaces in Wells are the Wells-Ogunquit school district, York County Community College and Stonewall Kitchen. Commutes are fairly long, and a sizeable group works from home.
Things to do. The Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve is a park a short drive away, and the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area, is also a short drive. For indoor outings, the Ogunquit Museum of American Art is a short drive away, and the Seashore Trolley Museum is likewise close by. Families may like Funtown Splashtown USA, an amusement park a longer drive away.
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- 5,067households
- 43%of adults have a degree
- 7%below the poverty line
- 28 mintypical commute
- 18%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. York County had 79,603 jobs in 2025, 0.3% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 32° and lows near 14°; warmest in July, with highs near 79° and lows near 60°. About 70 inches of snow and 52 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Cape Neddick weather station, 6 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Wells
- Wells-Ogunquit CSDSchool district276FTE
- Shaws SupermarketsGeneral warehousing and storage268
- York County Community CollegeTwo-year college213
- VELUX Greenwood - WellsScreen doors, metal frame, manufacturing69
- Stonewall KitchenCandles manufacturing54
- WellsMail and parcel delivery22
- Student Transportation of America48541020
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 6 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 570 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and colleges from IPEDS (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Ice stormsVery high
- Coastal floodingRelatively high
- HurricanesRelatively moderate
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
- Winter weatherRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across York County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on York County and the Portland-South Portland, ME metro.
Wells home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Wells$588,815
- Maine$412,002
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 4 Wells listings, and the typical home goes pending in 24 days — the market is cooling.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Wells26.72%
- United States26.90%
Days to pending
How long the typical listing takes to go under contract.
- Wells24
- United States27
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Wells155
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Wells41
Median sale price
What buyers actually paid — closed sales, not asking prices.
- Wells$604,037
- United States$371,407
Sale-to-list ratio
Above 100%, homes sell over asking; below, buyers negotiate wins.
- Wells98.33%
Zip codes with a Wells address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Wells — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.