Like all states, Maine has certain places that are going on hard times. These Maine places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Maine.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 21 cities in Maine with more than 2,000 people.
$51,585 median income · 21.3% poverty · #2 lowest income in Maine
Old Town, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Maine thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 7,470 people averages the 2nd lowest median household income in Maine and the 2nd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$53,580 median income · 20.6% poverty · #3 lowest income in Maine
Located in
Kennebec County, Maine
The second poorest city in Maine is Waterville.
The city ranks as having the 3rd highest incidence of poverty and 3rd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 7th highest in the Pine Tree State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$47,979 median income · 18.2% poverty · #1 lowest income in Maine
Located in
Kennebec County, Maine
Placing as the third poorest city, Augusta’s median income ranks as the lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 18.2% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Pine Tree State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$55,393 median income · 20.0% poverty · #5 lowest income in Maine
Located in
Androscoggin County, Maine
Lewiston ranks as the fourth poorest place in Maine.
The town ranks as having the 5th lowest median household income and the 4th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$64,096 median income · 21.4% poverty · #9 lowest income in Maine
The fifth poorest city in Maine is Calais.
The city ranks as having the 9th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the highest in Maine.
Still not the best news for Calais.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$53,709 median income · 15.5% poverty · #4 lowest income in Maine
Located in
Aroostook County, Maine
Caribou ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Pine Tree State.
It ranks as having the 8th highest incidence of poverty and the 12th highest unemployment rate.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$59,942 median income · 17.9% poverty · #8 lowest income in Maine
Located in
Penobscot County, Maine
Bangor places as the seventh poorest city in Maine.
The city of over 31,938 ranks as having the 6th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$55,768 median income · 15.5% poverty · #6 lowest income in Maine
Located in
Aroostook County, Maine
Presque Isle ranks as the eighth poorest city in Maine.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$67,679 median income · 16.0% poverty · #12 lowest income in Maine
Located in
Waldo County, Maine
Belfast couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Maine; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 12th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Belfast ranks as having the 7th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Maine.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$66,613 median income · 12.5% poverty · #10 lowest income in Maine
Located in
Penobscot County, Maine
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Maine is Brewer.
The city of 9,652 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Pine Tree State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Maine’s statewide median.
Maine statewide median: $74,733
Maine statewide median: 10.7%
Maine statewide median: 3.8%
On the map
Where poverty hits hardest in Maine
Saturday Night Science
How we determined the poorest places in Maine for 2026
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2020-2024 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 21 places with more than 2,000 people in Maine, we ranked each place from 1 to 21 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Old Town, crowned the “Poorest Place In Maine For 2026”. The median Maine home is 48 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
Detailed list of the poorest places to live in Maine
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Poor Score | Population | Median income | Poverty | Unemployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old Town | 2.00 | 7,470 | $51,585 | 21.3% | 1.8% |
| 2 | Waterville | 3.00 | 17,077 | $53,580 | 20.6% | 5.5% |
| 3 | Augusta | 3.00 | 19,077 | $47,979 | 18.2% | 5.7% |
| 4 | Lewiston | 4.50 | 38,324 | $55,393 | 20.0% | 4.8% |
| 5 | Calais | 5.00 | 3,097 | $64,096 | 21.4% | 5.8% |
| 6 | Caribou | 6.00 | 7,382 | $53,709 | 15.5% | 3.4% |
| 7 | Bangor | 7.00 | 31,938 | $59,942 | 17.9% | 4.1% |
| 8 | Presque Isle | 8.00 | 8,736 | $55,768 | 15.5% | 3.6% |
| 9 | Belfast | 9.50 | 6,986 | $67,679 | 16.0% | 0.6% |
| 10 | Brewer | 11.00 | 9,652 | $66,613 | 12.5% | 1.4% |
| 11 | Auburn | 11.00 | 24,602 | $66,647 | 13.8% | 7.0% |
| 12 | Rockland | 11.50 | 7,035 | $56,533 | 10.4% | 6.6% |
| 13 | Biddeford | 12.50 | 22,498 | $72,333 | 15.5% | 3.1% |
| 14 | Bath | 13.50 | 8,815 | $69,390 | 12.4% | 5.8% |
| 15 | Gardiner | 15.00 | 6,088 | $71,782 | 10.5% | 7.5% |
| 16 | Portland | 16.00 | 68,854 | $79,540 | 11.2% | 4.2% |
| 17 | Hallowell | 16.00 | 2,592 | $68,398 | 7.8% | 0.3% |
| 18 | Ellsworth | 17.00 | 8,657 | $77,375 | 9.3% | 2.8% |
| 19 | Westbrook | 18.50 | 20,775 | $85,038 | 8.0% | 2.2% |
| 20 | South Portland | 20.00 | 26,930 | $86,838 | 6.9% | 2.6% |
| 21 | Saco | 21.00 | 20,819 | $92,241 | 6.4% | 2.1% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 21 cities with more than 2,000 residents.
Summary
The poorest cities in Maine for 2026
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Maine, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Maine.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there. Not sold on Maine? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
