All-items parity
97.1
US = 100.0
Maine (ME) | All-items parity 97.1
Maine Cost of Living 2026
Maine reads 97.1 on the BEA all-items price parity for 2024, just under the national level, with housing rents at a modest 78.9 but utilities at 135.2, one of the highest readings in the country. That split is Maine's cost story in miniature: houses outside Portland remain genuinely affordable for the Northeast, while heating them through a Maine winter, in the nation's most heating-oil-dependent housing stock, at 21.85 cent electricity, is expensive every single year. Income tax runs 5.8-7.15%, property tax 1.13% with a homestead exemption, and the oldest median age in the nation shapes everything from healthcare demand to the labor market.
Utilities parity 135.2 (heating oil)Northeast's affordable housingOldest state by median age
Median Home
$341,900
2BR rent $1,325/mo
Median Income
$76,442
Household, Census ACS
Category breakdown
The four BEA price parities vs the nation
| Category | ME index | National avg | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| All items | 97.1 | 100.0 | -2.9% |
| Services: housing rents | 78.9 | 100.6 | -21.6% |
| Goods | 97.2 | 99.6 | -2.4% |
| Services: utilities | 135.2 | 98.4 | 37.4% |
| Services: other | 103.2 | 100.1 | 3.1% |
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes these four component parities and no others. There is no federal grocery, healthcare or transportation price parity, so this table shows none. Food at home sits inside Goods; medical and transport services sit inside Services: other.
Sources: BEA Regional Price Parities by State (table SARPP), 2024 reference year, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Census ACS 2024 1-year (median income, home value), Maine Revenue Services (income tax, homestead exemption), Governor's Energy Office (heating), Tax Foundation (effective property tax), EIA (electricity rates), KFF (uninsured rate).
Moving to Maine?
The cost of the move itself belongs in the comparison. Describe your move once on Angi and get matched with local and long-distance movers to compare real quotes, free and with no obligation.
Partner link: we earn a commission if you submit a request through it. It has no effect on any figure or ranking on this site.
Pros / offsets
What works in Maine.
The Northeast's last affordable housing. A rents parity of 78.9 against the national 100.6 and ordinary homes in the $200,000s across inland and Downeast Maine make it the cheapest ownership in New England by a wide margin; Bangor is among the most affordable small metros on the eastern seaboard.
The homestead exemption and property-tax fairness credit do real work. The first $25,000 of a primary home's value comes off the assessment statewide, and the refundable fairness credit rebates property tax or rent for lower and middle incomes, softening the 1.13% effective rate.
Retirement income treatment keeps improving. Social Security is fully exempt, and Maine's pension deduction has been raised repeatedly (tracking into the $45,000s per person and indexed), taking most ordinary retirements largely out of the income tax.
Quality of life that shows up in rankings, not just postcards. The nation's lowest-crime tier, 2.3 hospitals per capita, lobster-coast and lakes access from every town, and an uninsured rate of just 5.8% after Medicaid expansion.
Cons / drivers
Where Maine costs more.
Heating is the tax Maine actually levies. The most oil-heated housing stock in America, winter gas at $115 a month where it exists at all, electricity at 21.85 cents per kWh and a utilities parity of 135.2: budget a four-figure annual heating line, more in an old farmhouse, and watch it move with world oil prices.
Portland broke away from the state. The peninsula and inner suburbs now price 40%+ above the Maine median on in-migration and Airbnb-era coastal demand; the state's one true job-market city is its one unaffordable market.
The income tax starts high and climbs quickly. Brackets of 5.8-7.15% reach the top rate at moderate incomes, the heaviest schedule in northern New England next to no-income-tax New Hampshire one state over.
An old, stretched labor and care economy. The oldest median age in the nation means tight trades availability (quotes run long and high), stretched rural hospitals, and a winter-length caregiving market; cheap houses in emptying mill towns price that reality in.
Tax + benefit signals
Maine tax and access overview
State income tax
5.8-7.15%
Graduated or flat
Property tax effective
1.13%
Of assessed value, annual
Sales tax (state)
5.50%
Local can add 1-4% more
Uninsured rate
5.8%
Medicaid: expanded
Your take-home pay in Maine
Federal, Maine and any local income tax on your salary, per paycheck.
The mortgage on a $341,900 home
Monthly payment at today’s rates with Maine property tax (1.13%) and average home insurance.
Metro variation
State averages mask city variation.
Maine averages 97.1 on the BEA all-items parity, with the real split running coastal-versus-inland:
Portland and Casco Bay: The premium market: the peninsula, South Portland and Cape Elizabeth price far above the state on food-scene, remote-work and coastal demand; Westbrook and Biddeford-Saco absorb the spillover at friendlier numbers.
The Midcoast and Downeast (Brunswick to Bar Harbor): Harbor-town premiums (Camden, Boothbay) alternate with working-waterfront value; Acadia's orbit prices seasonally and sells to retirees year-round.
Bangor and the Highlands: The practical value capital: $200,000s family homes, the region's hospital hub, and the university at Orono nearby.
The rim counties (Aroostook, Washington, Somerset): Among the cheapest housing east of the Mississippi, $100,000s and below, with the longest drives, oldest populations and thinnest services in the state.
The farther from salt water and I-95, the cheaper the house and the dearer the winter logistics; most newcomers settle the tension in the Portland-to-Bangor corridor.
Frequently Asked
Maine cost of living, answered
Why are Maine utilities so expensive?
The utilities parity of 135.2 against a national 98.4 is mostly a heating story: Maine has the highest share of homes heated by fuel oil in the nation, delivered at world prices, and electricity rides New England's constrained grid at 21.85 cents per kWh. A typical winter burns hundreds of gallons of oil; state and Efficiency Maine rebates for heat pumps exist precisely because converting cuts that bill substantially, and tens of thousands of households have.
Is Maine housing actually affordable?
Outside Portland, yes, by any Northeast standard: the rents parity of 78.9 is far below the national level, Bangor and the inland county seats sell solid homes in the $150,000s to $250,000s, and the statewide $341,900 median is dragged up by the coast. Portland is the exception, 40%+ above the state on sustained in-migration. The honest framing: Maine offers the cheapest houses in New England, heated by its most expensive fuel.
How does Maine tax retirement income?
Social Security is fully exempt, and the pension/IRA deduction has been raised repeatedly, now in the mid-$40,000s per person and indexed, covering most ordinary retirements once Social Security is layered on. Above the deduction, income hits brackets that climb to 7.15% fairly fast. Property-tax relief for seniors runs through the homestead exemption and the refundable fairness credit. Net: a middle-income Maine retirement is lightly taxed; an affluent one should run the numbers against New Hampshire next door.
What is the Portland premium?
Maine's only sizable professional job market, its food-and-culture capital and its most Instagrammed coastline share one small peninsula: demand from remote workers, returning Mainers and second-home buyers meets near-zero vacancy, pricing the city and inner suburbs 40% or more above the state median for both purchase and rent. Biddeford-Saco, Westbrook and Lewiston-Auburn, all on commuter range, have become the pressure valves, each gentrifying in Portland's wake.
What does a Maine winter actually cost a household?
Beyond heat (commonly $2,000 to $3,500 a season in an oil-heated home, less after a heat-pump conversion), budget plowing or a serious snowblower, winter tires, higher electricity for the dark months (average bill $145), and the time tax of the thaw-freeze cycle on vehicles and roofs. Rural households add generator capacity, outages after coastal storms are routine. None of this is in the sticker price of that charming $180,000 farmhouse; all of it recurs annually.
Who does Maine work best for financially?
Retirees with Social Security plus a modest pension (largely untaxed, cheap inland housing, safe towns, strong hospital access in Portland and Bangor); remote workers who want New England coast or lakes without Massachusetts prices and will trade heating costs for them; and trades workers, in the oldest state, plumbers, electricians and caregivers name their price. The poor fit is a local-wage family in Portland, who face the state's one expensive market on Maine pay.