Retail pay in Maine after taxes: what you keep (2026)

The median retail associate in Maine earned $36,460 a year in May 2024, which is $18 an hour for a full-time year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of the 17,210 retail associates the BLS counts in Maine earned more than that and half earned less; the middle half of them sat between $34,000 and $43,200. That is the gross figure, before anyone takes anything. What you keep depends on Maine's tax, and Maine has a progressive state income tax with a top rate of 7.15%.

What the median retail associate keeps in Maine

For a single filer on the median $36,460, taking the standard deduction and no other adjustments:

The state line is 5.0% of gross at this salary, approximated at 70% of the top bracket, which is where a middle income lands in most progressive states. Health insurance, retirement contributions and local taxes are not in it either; they vary by employer and by city.

Where Maine ranks for retail associate pay

Of the 50 states, Maine ranks 7 of 50 on the gross median for retail associates, in the top ten. The highest-paying state is Washington at $38,350 and the lowest is Mississippi at $27,810. Gross rank is not take-home rank: a state with no income tax climbs several places once the state line is applied, and a high-tax state drops.

Across the border

The same job in the states next to Maine, gross median and estimated take-home for a single filer:

New Hampshire leaves a retail associate with more at the end of the year than Maine does. Pay is one line; rent is the other, and a higher median in a metro with higher rent can leave you with less.

Where the retail associate jobs are in Maine

The BLS count of 17,210 retail associates is statewide. The metros with the most of that work are Portland, Lewiston and Bangor, which is where the median is set and where the upper quartile ($43,200 and above) is most often paid. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are listed on the Maine openings page; those filings are the ones already paying to bring people in, and housing or transport is often part of the offer.

Maine also has a program that pay people to move in: Student Loan Repayment Tax Credit (up to $2,500 a year against Maine income tax, for workers living and paying off student loans in Maine). Each has a residence condition and a funding round; the amount is the program's own "up to" figure.

What people get wrong about retail associate pay in Maine

• Quoting the mean. The BLS mean for Maine is $19 an hour, pulled up by the top earners. The median ($18) is what the typical retail associate makes.
• Comparing gross across states. A $36,460 offer in Maine is $29,455 in hand; the same number in a no-tax state is $31,280.
• Forgetting the employer's share of insurance. A job that pays $34,460 with full health coverage can beat one that pays $39,460 without it.
• Treating the statewide median as the metro median. Portland pays differently from a rural county; ask for the figure for the place you are actually going.

Everything about Maine, on one page

The Maine page has the licence registries and boards, the state tax at three salaries, the programs that pay you to come, and the openings filed in Maine this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Maine employers hiring from out of state.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 state estimates for Retail. Tax lines are a single filer with the standard deduction, 2024 federal brackets, and the state rate in lib/us-states.ts; progressive states are approximated. Not tax advice.