New data released today by the US Census Bureau shows inflation-adjusted incomes in Maine rising faster than the national average. The number of Mainers without health insurance remains below national averages, but challenges remain.
According to the American Community Survey, median household income in Maine was just under $74,000 in 2023, a 5% increase from 2019 after accounting for the effects of inflation. Nationally, median income is still 1% below 2019 levels. However, for Mainers in the bottom 20%, incomes dropped 1% from 2019 to just over $17,000, likely reflecting barriers like caregiving or medical issues that kept some from being able to participate in the strong labor market.
Maine’s poverty rate remains equivalent to pre-pandemic levels, at 10.4%, though there are indicators that particularly disadvantaged groups are seeing progress. Child poverty remains at historically low levels in Maine (12.6%). The poverty rate for Mainers who identify as Black alone (21%) is approximately half what it was in 2016, but is still much higher than the rate for white non-Hispanic Mainers.
Maine continued to have a historically low share of its population without health insurance, at just 5.9% in 2023. While this still leaves 80,000 Mainers without health insurance, this is down from 107,000 Mainers in 2019 and shows the success of Maine’s Medicaid expansion and extended Affordable Care Act subsidies at the federal level.
“While the data shows progress, lawmakers shouldn’t celebrate too soon,” said James Myall, economic policy analyst at the Maine Center for Economic Policy. “Many low-income Mainers still face tough choices amid rising costs.”
MECEP will share more analysis in the days to come.
