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State relocation profile · Federal data

Maine

Cost of living, fair-market rent, wages, safety, schools and childcare for Maine - every figure straight from federal data.

97.0
Cost index (US=100)
$1,447
2BR rent / mo
$70,351
Median salary
50.8
Life Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Maine scores 50.8/100 (D) on the composite Life Score, with its strongest marks in safety and environment.

50.8
Life Score · D
97.0
Cost of living (US=100)
$70,351
Median annual salary (BLS)
$1,447
2BR fair-market rent / mo (HUD)

Weakest dimension: schools (0/100). State-level figures are a benchmark, individual metros can diverge sharply, so weigh each dimension against your own priorities.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and five other federal agencies, Maine has a cost-of-living index of 97.0 (100 = national average), a median 2-bedroom rent of $1,447/mo, and a median salary of $70,351. Its composite Life Score is 50.8/100 (D), with its strongest marks in safety and environment.

How Maine ranks nationally

Where Maine's composite Life Score falls among all 51 US states scored.

Life Score distribution - Maine marked 0 US states at 0–10 0 0 US states at 10–20 10 0 US states at 20–30 20 5 US states at 30–40 5 30 16 US states at 40–50 16 40 24 US states at 50–60 24 50 6 US states at 60–70 6 60 0 US states at 70–80 70 0 US states at 80–90 80 0 US states at 90–100 90 Life Score →
Bottom 47% by Life Score Lower Life Score than 53% of all 51 US states.

Maine has life score of 50.8. Distribution: 0 US states at 0-10; 0 US states at 10-20; 0 US states at 20-30; 5 US states at 30-40; 16 US states at 40-50; 24 US states at 50-60; 6 US states at 60-70; 0 US states at 70-80; 0 US states at 80-90; 0 US states at 90-100.

Evaluating Maine as a relocation target starts with the statewide BEA Regional Price Parity of 97.0 - where 100 is the national average, so every point above or below translates to percent-level cost of living difference. Housing costs in Maine index at 78.9, goods at 97.2, and services at 135.2. HUD Fair Market Rents averaged across Maine counties put a 2-bedroom at $1,447/month, the figure HUD uses to cap Section 8 voucher payments, so it reflects real submarket rents rather than listings bias.

On the income side, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report a statewide median salary of $70,351 with a mean of $73,537 across 622,250 tracked jobs. For safety context, FBI UCR data shows a violent crime rate of 102 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1149 per 100K. These state-level reads let you benchmark Maine against both your origin state and national medians before zooming into specific metros.

Family and education costs often decide a move. Department of Labor data for Maine shows center-based infant care running $11,325/year, preschool at $9,566/year, and toddler care at $10,451/year. Maine contains 3 metropolitan statistical areas in our dataset - Bangor, Lewiston-Auburn, Portland-South Portland - each with its own rent, wage and crime profile that can diverge sharply from the statewide average. The composite Life Score of 50.8/100 (D) folds all seven federal sources into one number for quick comparison.

Key Metrics

Cost of Living (RPP)
97.0
100 = national avg
Avg 2BR Rent (FMR)
$1,447
per month
Median Salary
$70,351
annual
Violent Crime Rate
102
per 100K

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for Maine (DOL data).

Infant (Center)
$11,325
per year
Toddler (Center)
$10,451
per year
Preschool (Center)
$9,566
per year

Life Score Breakdown

Maine's composite Life Score is 50.8/100 (D), computed across 7 dimensions.

Strongest dimension: Safety (92/100)

Maine - Life Score dimensions

Percentile vs all US states (100 = best in the nation for that dimension)

/100

What this shows Maine's strongest dimensions are safety and environment; its weakest is schools at 0/100. Each dimension is a federal-data percentile; the composite folds all seven into one comparable figure.

Source BEA · HUD · BLS · FBI · NCES · DOL · EPA As of Federal data, latest available vintage
Cost
50/100
Average
Wages
60/100
Above average
Rent
30/100
Weak
Crime
92/100
Elite
Schools
0/100
Bottom decile
Childcare
43/100
Below average
Environment
62/100
Above average

Metros in Maine

Explore detailed relocation data for 3 metropolitan areas in Maine.

Bangor, ME Lewiston-Auburn, ME Portland-South Portland, ME

Relocation Guides

In-depth guides to help with your relocation research.

Cheapest Places With Good Schools

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Cost vs. Quality of Life

How cost of living correlates with livability across US metros.

Best Cities for Remote Workers

Top metros for remote workers optimizing for cost, safety, and lifestyle.

Relocating within or to Maine?

State figures are the benchmark, drill into a metro before you commit.

  • Maine has 3 metro areas with rent, wage and crime profiles that diverge from the statewide average, start with Bangor. View Bangor
  • Put two places on the same scorecard across cost, rent, wages, safety and schools before you decide. Compare metros
  • See how every US metro ranks on the composite LiveAbility Score, then re-weight it to your priorities. Rankings

Cost, rent and wages are state-level reads; safety, schools and childcare use state data where metro-level isn't published. Always verify the latest figures at the official source before you move.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cost of living in Maine?
Maine has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 97.0, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 78.9, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom fair market rent is $1,447/month.
What is the median salary in Maine?
The median salary in Maine is $70,351 annually (mean: $73,537). Total employment across the state is 622,250.
How safe is Maine?
The violent crime rate in Maine is 102 per 100,000 population. The property crime rate is 1149 per 100K.
How much does childcare cost in Maine?
Infant center-based childcare in Maine averages $11,325 per year. Preschool averages $9,566/year. Toddler care averages $10,451/year. These are state-level averages from the Department of Labor.
How many metro areas are in Maine?
Maine has 3 metropolitan statistical areas tracked by PlainRelocate, including Bangor, Lewiston-Auburn, Portland-South Portland.
Is Maine a good state to relocate to?
Maine has a Life Score of 50.8/100 (D), based on 7 dimensions: cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment. This is a middle-of-the-pack score, where the composite lands for most US states; look at individual dimensions to see the real trade-offs.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Data Sources

  • Cost of Living: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Regional Price Parities
  • Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR)
  • Wages: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES)
  • Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)
  • Schools: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
  • Childcare: Department of Labor (DOL)
  • Environment: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

This information is for research purposes only.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

Browse all → | Rankings →

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau →

Every figure on PlainRelocate is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.