Maine has the ninth worst economy in the country, according to a recent study by personal finance website WalletHub.
This report also found that Maine has the second lowest median annual household income, followed only by West Virginia.
In order to determine the overall ranking order, WalletHub scored states along three metrics: economic activity, economic health, and innovation potential.
Maine scored most strongly with respect to its economic health, coming in thirtieth nationwide, and was found to be at its weakest in terms of innovation potential, ranking forty-first. The state was ranked thirty-eighth for its level of economic activity.
WalletHub describes the economic health category as encompassing factors like unemployment, median annual household income, the share of the population in poverty, the foreclosure rate, and the growth in state personal income.
Innovation potential incorporates statistics such as the share of jobs in high tech industries, the amount of independent inventor patents per 1,000 working-age individuals, and entrepreneurial activity as measured by the rate of new entrepreneurs, the opportunity share of new entrepreneurs, and startup density.
The study measured states’ economic activity by taking into consideration figures including the change in gross domestic product (GDP), exports per capita, and startup activity.
Last year, Maine was found to have the tenth worst economy in the nation, a slightly better ranking than it earned in 2024.
The 2023 rankings were based on the same three categories of economic activity, economic health, and innovation potential.
[RELATED: Maine Has the 10th Worst State Economy, Study Finds]
Earlier this year, WalletHub also found that Mainers are responsible for the some of the highest tax burdens in the country.
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]
Click Here to Read the Full June 2024 WalletHub Study
