Prices, pay, taxes, homes and family budgets, county by county, from the same official data the site's calculators use.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures price levels in every state against a national average of 100. Maine scores 97.0 overall, so a $75,000 salary at average US prices buys what $72,788 buys here. Compare any salary with another state.
| Price level | Maine (US = 100) | Rank, most expensive first |
|---|---|---|
| Everything | 97.0 | 26th of 51 |
| Rents | 78.9 | 34th of 51 |
| Goods | 97.2 | — |
| Other services | 103.2 | — |
Home electricity averaged 24.29 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2024, against 17.06 across all states. A gallon of regular gas cost $4.13 at the end of August 2026, against $4.12.
Across all 640,610 jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in Maine, the median pay is $51,430 a year, or $24.73 an hour; that ranks 21st of the 50 states and DC. One worker in ten earns less than $35,140 and one in ten more than $105,510.
Maine taxes wages in brackets, with a top rate of 7.15%. The brackets in Maine. A single filer on the median $51,430, with no retirement or health deductions, takes home about $40,293 a year, or $1,550 every two weeks, after $3,992 of federal income tax, $3,934 of Social Security and Medicare and $3,211 of state income tax. Work out your own paycheck in Maine.
The five occupations employing the most people, with their median annual pay:
| Occupation | Jobs | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 18,630 | $38,580 |
| Retail Salespersons | 18,450 | $36,640 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 17,250 | $34,710 |
| Registered Nurses | 16,540 | $86,990 |
| General and Operations Managers | 14,770 | $98,860 |
Of the 20 largest occupations, the best paid are general and operations managers ($98,860), registered nurses ($86,990), first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers ($67,530). See what common jobs pay in every state.
Across the 16 Maine counties with their own Zillow home value, the median typical home is worth $331,668, and across the 12 with their own rent figure the median typical rent is $1,657 a month. A typical home costs 4.16 years of the county's median family income, at the median county.
With 10% down at 7.03%, the average 30-year rate on September 24, 2026, that home costs about $2,624 a month with tax, insurance and mortgage insurance, which takes $112,466 a year of income under the usual 28% guideline. The median family can afford its own county's typical home in 6.3% of Maine's counties, against 44.9% of counties nationally. Try it with your own income.
At the median county, home values changed +1.4% over the past year and +28.5% over five years, and rents +3.1% over the past year.
The most expensive Maine counties are Cumberland County ($570,881), York County ($534,482) and Lincoln County ($451,669); the least expensive are Aroostook County ($171,902), Washington County ($207,650) and Piscataquis County ($233,098).
The Economic Policy Institute prices what a modest but adequate standard of living costs in every county: housing, food, transport, healthcare, childcare, other necessities and taxes. In the median Maine county, that comes to $49,745 a year for one adult and $111,760 for two adults and two children, of which $17,258 is childcare. The national averages are $47,367 and $101,771. Median family income in the median county is $84,870.
| Two adults, two children | Per year, median county | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $14,280 | $1,190 |
| Food | $12,934 | $1,078 |
| Transportation | $20,057 | $1,671 |
| Healthcare | $20,707 | $1,726 |
| Childcare | $17,258 | $1,438 |
| Other necessities | $8,723 | $727 |
| Taxes | $17,012 | $1,418 |
Each line is its own median across counties, so the lines do not add up exactly to the total.
The Department of Education's College Scorecard lists 36 colleges in Maine, 15 of them public. The median public college reports a cost of attendance of $18,617 a year, covering tuition, housing, books and other expenses. Ten years after enrolling, the median school's former students earn $43,891. Compare degrees and schools.
| Androscoggin County | $337,585 | +1.5% | $1,569 | $83,794 | $112,381 |
| Aroostook County | $171,902 | +2.8% | $1,014 | $72,864 | $101,363 |
| Cumberland County | $570,881 | +1.4% | $2,458 | $120,394 | $138,927 |
| Franklin County | $300,634 | +1.1% | — | $79,947 | $110,451 |
| Hancock County | $432,155 | +2.5% | $1,744 | $89,447 | $113,927 |
| Kennebec County | $324,605 | +0.8% | $1,525 | $85,945 | $105,065 |
| Knox County | $447,204 | −0.8% | $1,922 | $92,717 | $111,138 |
| Lincoln County | $451,669 | +0.4% | — | $91,387 | $114,414 |
| Oxford County | $325,751 | +0.3% | $1,378 | $73,874 | $106,256 |
| Penobscot County | $286,656 | +2.3% | $1,562 | $88,740 | $119,890 |
| Piscataquis County | $233,098 | +1.2% | — | $65,041 | $108,885 |
| Sagadahoc County | $440,725 | +1.3% | $1,939 | $95,557 | $120,888 |
| Somerset County | $238,047 | +2.4% | $1,354 | $72,186 | $104,301 |
| Waldo County | $351,854 | +3.0% | $1,842 | $82,070 | $114,008 |
| Washington County | $207,650 | +0.5% | — | $69,234 | $107,333 |
| York County | $534,482 | +1.5% | $2,186 | $103,046 | $132,902 |
A dash means the source publishes no figure for that county. Home values and rents are Zillow's own county figures only; counties Zillow does not cover are left blank rather than filled with a state average.
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Cost of living · Income tax · Child care costs
Run the numbersTake-home pay in Maine · What a salary is worth in Maine · How much rent you can afford · What a car costs in Maine
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County figures are medians across Maine's counties, each counting once, so they describe the spread of places rather than of people. Property tax and insurance vary widely; the calculators let you use your own.