Mainers were recently found to have one of the lowest average annual incomes in America when adjusted for cost of living, according to a study published by personal finance website WalletHub Tuesday.
Ranking forty-eighth in the nation overall, the only states to come in below Maine in this lineup were Mississippi, New Mexico, and West Virginia.
In order to compile these rankings, WalletHub adjusted the average annual income of residents in accordance with the cost of living index (COLI) to allow for a more accurate cross-state comparison.
The score assigned to each state was calculated based on the adjusted average annual incomes of the top 5 percent and bottom 20 percent of residents, as well as the median annual household income.
The adjusted average annual income of Maine’s top 5 percent of earners was found to be $338,866, the fourth lowest nationwide.
Coming in the tenth lowest position, Maine’s bottom 20 percent of earners were determined to make an adjusted average of $13,749 annually.
The adjusted annual median income of $79,800 fared comparatively better, ranking as the twenty-second highest in this category.
In terms of raw numbers, however, Maine was recently found to have the second lowest annual median income, coming in just above West Virginia.
Click Here to Read the Full WalletHub Report
Another study conducted recently by WalletHub revealed that Maine has the country’s ninth worst economy.
This ranking was based on a number of factors, including unemployment, the growth in state personal income, exports per capita, the share of jobs in high tech industries, and the level of entrepreneurial activity.
[RELATED: Maine Has Ninth Worst Economy in the United States — WalletHub]
Earlier this year, it was found by WalletHub that Mainers are responsible for shoulders some of the nation’s heftiest tax burdens.
These reports concluded that Maine taxpayers shoulder the country’s highest property tax burden in the country, as well as the nation’s fifth highest vehicle tax burden.
[RELATED: Mainers Bear Nation’s Highest Property Tax Burden, 4th Highest Tax Burden Overall — WalletHub Study]
Maine was also determined to impose the fourth highest overall tax burden, with a total of 10.74 percent of residents’ personal income going toward taxes.
The state’s effective property tax rate came in at 4.86 percent, while the effective vehicle tax rate was found to be 2.40 percent.
According to these studies, Mainers fare comparatively well with respect to their individual income tax burden, as well as their sales and excise tax burden.
These figures came in at 2.59 percent and 3.29 percent respectively, earning Maine a rank of twenty-one for income tax and twenty-four for sales and excise tax.
[RELATED: Vehicle Owners in Maine Pay One of the Highest Tax Rates in the Country — WalletHub Study]
According to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center — using data compiled from the The Council for Community and Economic Research — Maine ranked thirty-seventh in terms of its COLI score for 2023.
On the COLI, a higher score — and therefore a higher position in this ranking — is indicative of a more expensive living environment.
Great job, Demomarxists in the legislature and on every city council in the state with Comrade Mills at the helm. Every public policy you touch needlessly turns our state into a dystopia.
Augusta: We can solve this by squeezing more out of the middle class to give to parasites who came here for gimmedats
Then they ll vote for us, and we can rinse and repeat
The politicians in Augusta and many of the towns and cities turn everything they touch to rot.
They want it that way so more of us are dependent on the govt and they can have power.
They have no business sense and have no intention of learning any.
If they want taxes to go down real quick, deport the illegals and put restrictions back on welfare.
Then take some lessons from prosperous states, like the one next door, and make big changes.
High Taxes and poor schools lead to a poor earnings.
Are any of the lost 80000 new kids to America in our schools Maine department?
Under the lunatic liberal dems, Maine’s ranking in education has plummeted, and our annual income is 48th in the nation! The libs have transitioned our educational institutions into unscientific WOKE indoctrination centers.
Not bad enough that we rank so low in education, our evil Auntie Jan’s plan to bring in 75,000 more illegals into the state will further decrease the already flailing wages for tax payers.
How can anyone in their right mind even consider voting for a leftist hack? I honestly don’t understand…
Diane, local media, both print and tv, run cover for Mills and the Dems.
If you go to their sites they have more out of state news and more puff pieces than they do anything about what’s being done to this state.
The slide to a third world shit hole continues. Thanks dems!
We need more of factual republican Mainers in positions of power at the state capitol levels, cities and towns. Less democrat power. They are the party of death and destruction. I was born and brought up here over six decades ago and have never seen it this bad.
This is a statewide average Southern Maine has much higher incomes, that leaves Northern Maine sucking hind teat. Then consider transportation costs are higher because of the poor condition of our roads, and our car repairs are higher because we are a California emissions state. Then factor in the fact that Maine’s electricity costs are double many other states. Those are the costs you can lay at the feet of our Political class. Not to mention the cost to heat our homes, and fight ice and snow to get to work and school. It’s a miracle we live as well as we do.
Maine, where we’re the 5th most taxed state but 48th in income…. Its sad we can’t call Taxassachusetts anymore because we’re taxed more than them.