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.
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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.
Source: WalletHub’s 2024 Best and Worst State Economies Report
Last year, Maine was found to have the tenth worst economy in the nation, a slightly better ranking than it earned in 2024.
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The 2023 rankings were based on the same three categories of economic activity, economic health, and innovation potential.
[ 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.
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.
[ Vehicle Owners in Maine Pay One of the Highest Tax Rates in the Country — WalletHub Study]
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Click Here to Read the Full June 2024 WalletHub Study
Just one day after Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced a new state council tasked with studying the impacts of AI data centers in Maine, a new poll suggests a majority of Mainers oppose their construction.
A new poll from UMass Lowell found that 72% of Mainers are against AI data centers being built in their communities.
That includes 51% who strongly oppose the projects, while only 28% support them.
In April, Mills vetoed a bill that would have paused all large-scale AI data center projects in the state, citing a planned facility in Jay.
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Since then, several Maine communities have adopted moratoriums of their own. The latest is Scarborough, which enacted its moratorium earlier this week.
PRESQUE ISLE (WGME) — The first successful trans-Atlantic balloon launched from Presque Isle in 1978.
Early Thursday morning, a group of pilots took flight with the goal of crossing the Atlantic Ocean and landing in Europe.
The hydrogen balloon in the air on its way to Europe. (Courtesy: Bert Padelt)
The Atlantic Explorer 2026 is a gas balloon that uses hydrogen.
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If successful, this balloon team would be the first to cross the Atlantic using hydrogen as the lifting gas. All others used helium.
“They can vent hydrogen to go down, although they try to avoid doing that. They have expendable weight in the form of sand ballast,” Atlantic Explorer 2026 Press Officer Kim Vesley said.
The hydrogen balloon in the air on its way to Europe. (Courtesy: Bert Padelt)
They can offload the weight to make the balloon go up, or keep it from coming down.
And there are three pilots inside.
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“They work in shifts, and they have everything they need: food, clothing, water, a little port-a-potty type bucket,” Vesley said.
The hydrogen balloon in the air on its way to Europe. (Courtesy: Bert Padelt)
“The trajectory and the winds that they have available to them determine where they will come into Europe. It could be probably 3,100 to 3,500 miles, in that vicinity. They expect to be aloft four to six days,” Vesley said.
They have survival equipment, including a life raft, survival suit and more in case of an emergency, but they’re all optimistic.
The hydrogen balloon in the air on its way to Europe. (Courtesy: Bert Padelt)
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“These are all friends with a common goal. That is to do something very special and very rare. The other thing is they may also set a couple of world records during this for the size and type of balloon they are flying,” Vesley said.
To track where the balloon is and the flight path it’s taken, you can visit their website.
Six Maine food producers were honored at the 16th annual Good Food Awards.
Awardees announced Tuesday include Allagash Brewing Company for their Allagash Lager and Kickabout Lager; Bixby Chocolate of Rockland for their Belize organic dark chocolate bar; Maine Grains of Skowhegan for their organic einkorn farro; Maine Sauce and Provisions of Newcastle for the Resurgam Spruced Up chile verde hot sauce; Tootie’s Tempeh of Biddeford for their curry-seasoned and traditional tempehs; and Turtle Rock Farm of Camden for Strawberry Chamomile Spreadable Fruit.
The total of 242 winners nationwide were selected through a blind tasting process from more than 1,200 entries.
The awards program is overseen by the Specialty Food Foundation. According to the foundation’s website, “The Good Food Awards Seal, found on winning products, assures consumers they’ve discovered something exceptionally delicious that also supports sustainability and social good.”
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Earlier this year, Tern Coffee of Brunswick was named one of the seven Maine finalists in the Good Food Awards for its Familia Diaz Honey Pacamara coffee.
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Tim Cebula has been a food writer and editor for 23 years. A former correspondent for The Boston Globe food section, his work has appeared in Time, Health, Food & Wine, CNN.com, and Boston magazine,…
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