Average Salary in Maine (ME)

Maine has the oldest median age of any US state, and that demographic fact shapes its economy in ways the income numbers alone don't capture. The $68,251 median household income is below the national average, but the cost-of-living index of 113 pushes effective purchasing power further down — Maine is meaningfully more expensive than its wage levels suggest, driven by heating-oil costs, grocery prices in rural areas, and rising housing costs that have accelerated since 2020 as remote workers relocated from Boston and New York. The economy has three pillars: healthcare (MaineHealth and Northern Light Health together dominate statewide employment), tourism concentrated on the coast between Kennebunkport and Bar Harbor, and the commercial fishing industry (Maine produces over 80% of US lobster by weight). Portland has been the fastest-growing metro of the past decade; Bangor and more rural counties have seen much slower growth. The $14.15/hour minimum wage is indexed to inflation and is among the highest wage floors in the Northeast. State income tax ranges from 5.8% to 7.15% across three brackets. Property taxes run moderate. L.L. Bean's Freeport headquarters continues to anchor the mid-coast economy. Full data follows.