Massachusetts vs Maine

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in Massachusetts is worth

$94,518

at national prices · RPP 105.8BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Maine is worth

$102,987

at national prices · RPP 97.1BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$8,469 further in Maine (+9.0% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

Massachusetts: $100,000 ÷ (105.8 ÷ 100) = $94,518

Maine: $100,000 ÷ (97.1 ÷ 100) = $102,987

difference: $102,987 − $94,518 = +$8,469

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	Massachusetts	Maine	Difference
All items	105.8	97.1	−8.2%
Housing rents	128.1	78.9	−38.4%
Goods	98.8	97.2	−1.6%
Utilities	152.1	135.2	−11.1%
Other services	102.9	103.2	+0.3%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

MassachusettsMedian rent$1,762/moMedian home$562,100

MaineMedian rent$1,139/moMedian home$296,600

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	Massachusetts	Maine
Income tax (top rate)	9.00%	7.15%
Sales tax (combined avg)	6.25%	5.50%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

Massachusetts vs Maine: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from Massachusetts to Maine and its purchasing power changes from $94,518 to $102,987 in national-average terms — a gain of $8,469. Maine is the cheaper of the two, running at 97.1 on the price index versus 105.8.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is housing rents: Massachusetts sits at 128.1 and Maine at 78.9 (100 = national). Maine has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $1,762 in Massachusetts against $1,139 in Maine, and the typical home $562,100 versus $296,600. Maine is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, Massachusetts has 9.00% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 6.25%; Maine has 7.15% top income tax and 5.50%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

Full profiles: Massachusetts ·Maine. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

Comparing a different pair?Use the full tool →