Demographics of Maine
Affluence Level in Maine
A middle-class area roughly in line with national averages across income, home values, education, and employment.
People of Maine
The people of Maine today number roughly 1.38 million, making it the most rural state in the nation by population density, with just 44 people per square mile. The state is overwhelmingly white (90.6%) and has the lowest foreign-born share in the country at 1.8%, a legacy of its homogeneous 19th-century settlement patterns. Maine’s distinctive identity is rooted in a Yankee self-reliance, a strong sense of local community, and a deep connection to the working landscapes of fishing, forestry, and farming. Despite its reputation as a retirement destination, Maine has a slightly older-than-average population, and its growth has been slow, driven more by domestic in-migration than international arrivals.
Settlement & growth (pre-1960)
Long before European arrival, Maine was home to the Wabanaki Confederacy—the Abenaki, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, and Maliseet peoples—who lived along the coast and river valleys for thousands of years, relying on fishing, hunting, and seasonal agriculture. The first European contact came from French explorers in the early 1600s, who established a short-lived settlement on Saint Croix Island in 1604. English colonists followed, founding the Popham Colony near present-day Phippsburg in 1607, though it lasted only a year. Permanent English settlement began in earnest in the 1620s and 1630s, with fishing and trading posts along the coast at places like York, Kittery, and Portland (then Falmouth). These early settlers were primarily English Puritans and Anglicans from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Maine remained a district of Massachusetts until 1820.
The 18th and 19th centuries saw a steady influx of English-descended Yankees pushing inland along the Kennebec, Penobscot, and Androscoggin rivers. After the American Revolution, land grants and the promise of cheap farmland drew settlers from southern New England and New Hampshire into central and northern Maine, founding towns like Augusta, Bangor, and Waterville. The state’s population boomed during the 19th century, driven by the timber and shipbuilding industries. Bangor became the world’s leading lumber port by the 1850s, attracting workers from the Maritime provinces of Canada—especially Nova Scotia and New Brunswick—as well as Irish immigrants fleeing the Potato Famine. The Irish settled heavily in Portland, Lewiston, and the mill towns along the Androscoggin River, where they worked in textile mills and on the railroads.
By the late 1800s, French Canadians from Quebec began migrating south into Maine in large numbers, drawn by jobs in the state’s booming textile, paper, and shoe mills. They concentrated in Lewiston, Auburn, Biddeford, and Sanford, forming tight-knit Franco-American communities that retained French language and Catholic traditions well into the 20th century. Smaller waves of Swedish immigrants settled in Stockholm and New Sweden in Aroostook County in the 1870s, recruited by the state to farm potatoes. By 1900, Maine’s population was overwhelmingly native-born white, with the largest ethnic minorities being Irish and French Canadian. The Great Migration of African Americans from the South largely bypassed Maine, as did the major waves of Southern and Eastern European immigration that transformed other Northeastern states. The state’s Black population remained below 1% until the late 20th century.
Modern era (post-1965)
The 1965 Hart-Cellar Act had a minimal direct impact on Maine, as the state’s economy and geography did not attract large numbers of post-1965 immigrants. However, the act’s family reunification provisions did lead to a slow trickle of new arrivals. The most notable post-1965 immigrant group in Maine has been Somali refugees, who began resettling in Lewiston and Portland in the early 2000s through federal refugee programs. By 2020, Lewiston’s Somali community numbered several thousand, making it one of the largest Somali enclaves in the United States. This influx has been the most significant demographic change in Maine in decades, though the state’s overall foreign-born share remains the lowest in the nation at 1.8%. Smaller refugee communities from Iraq, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have also settled in Portland and South Portland.
Domestic migration has been a more powerful force shaping modern Maine. Since the 1970s, the state has attracted retirees and second-home buyers from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, drawn by lower property taxes, scenic coastlines, and a slower pace of life. This trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, when remote work enabled a surge of in-migration from urban centers. Coastal counties like Cumberland (Portland), York, and Lincoln have seen the most growth, while rural northern and eastern counties—Aroostook, Washington, and Piscataquis—continue to lose population due to the decline of the paper and timber industries. The state’s population grew by just 2.6% between 2010 and 2020, with most gains concentrated in the Portland metropolitan area and along the southern coast.
Suburbanization has reshaped the landscape around Portland, with towns like Scarborough, Gorham, and Windham absorbing much of the region’s growth. These communities are predominantly white and middle-class, with a mix of commuters, remote workers, and retirees. The state’s Hispanic population, at 2.1%, is small but growing, driven by agricultural workers in Washington County’s blueberry barrens and by service-sector workers in Portland. The East/Southeast Asian population (1.0%) is concentrated in Portland and Brunswick, with Vietnamese and Cambodian communities dating to the post-Vietnam War refugee resettlement of the 1970s and 1980s. The Indian-subcontinent population (0.1%) is tiny, mostly professionals in healthcare and academia in Portland and Orono.
The future
Maine’s population is projected to grow slowly, if at all, over the next 20 years. The state’s birth rate is below replacement level, and its population is the oldest in the nation by median age (44.8 years). Future growth will depend almost entirely on in-migration, both domestic and international. The remote-work trend, if sustained, could continue to bring younger professionals and families from higher-cost states, particularly to the southern coast and the Portland area. However, the state’s housing shortage—especially in desirable coastal towns—may limit this influx. The refugee and immigrant communities in Lewiston and Portland are likely to grow, slowly increasing the state’s racial and ethnic diversity, but Maine will almost certainly remain one of the whitest states in the country for the foreseeable future. The cultural identity of the state is evolving, with the old Yankee and Franco-American traditions blending with newer influences from Somali, Latin American, and Asian communities, though this change is most visible in the southern cities and less so in the rural interior.
For someone moving to Maine now, the state offers a stable, safe, and community-oriented environment with strong schools and natural beauty, but with limited economic opportunity outside of healthcare, education, and tourism. The population is aging and slow-growing, meaning new residents will find a place that values tradition and continuity over rapid change. The most dynamic areas are the southern coast and the Portland metro, where diversity and growth are most apparent, while the vast northern and eastern regions continue to hollow out. Maine is becoming a slightly more diverse, more suburban, and more amenity-driven state, but its essential character—quiet, rural, and deeply rooted—remains intact.
Most Diverse Cities in Maine
Most Homogenous Cities in Maine
* Values derived from national, state, county, city and local statistics and may differ in a specific area. Last updated: 2026-06-18T00:50:42.000Z
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