Ranked 42nd of 51 states (with the District of Columbia) in the United States, Maine counts 1.39 million residents. People, homes, work, and the shape of the local business landscape, drawn from public data.
Across Maine there are 3 metropolitan areas with their own profiles on this site; Portland-South Portland, ME is the largest at 562,843 residents.
Housing: a median home value of $296,600, 11 percent below the national figure. Income in Maine: a median of $74,733 per household against $80,734 nationally, so 7 percent below the national figure. Both figures matter for pricing and for which offers land.
The household mix in brief. A four-year degree or more: 36.2%, about the same as the US share. Maine has a median age of 44.8 (5.9 years above the national median). A labor force of 719,683 carries an unemployment rate of 3.8%, 1 points below the US share. 74.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, 9 points above the US share.
How does that compare with its largest metro? Income in Maine is 19 percent lower than the Portland metro figure, the median home value is 29 percent lower than the Portland metro figure, and business density is 9 percent thinner than the Portland metro figure; the full numbers are on the Portland-South Portland, ME page.
The establishment count for Maine is 43,345. That works out to 31.2 businesses per 1,000 residents, 25 percent above the national figure (the national rate is 25 per 1,000). Contractors in the home-services trades total 2,899, or 6.7% of the base, 2 points above the US share.
| Category | Locations | Per 100k people | Local ÷ US share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and other eating places | 3,025 | 218 | 0.94× |
| Landscaping services | 964 | 69.5 | 1.58× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 781 | 56.3 | 1.35× |
| Child day care services | 674 | 48.6 | 1.58× |
| Electrical contractors | 662 | 47.7 | 1.53× |
| Legal services | 644 | 46.4 | 0.69× |
| General automotive repair | 614 | 44.2 | 1.40× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 599 | 43.2 | 0.85× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 567 | 40.9 | 1.09× |
| Physicians' offices | 534 | 38.5 | 0.47× |
| Personal care services (all) | 504 | 36.3 | 0.60× |
| Dentists | 457 | 32.9 | 0.65× |
| General freight trucking | 363 | 26.2 | 0.60× |
| Automobile dealers | 305 | 22 | 1.25× |
| Beauty salons | 293 | 21.1 | 0.67× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 225 | 16.2 | 1.02× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 157 | 11.3 | 1.30× |
| Roofing contractors | 110 | 7.9 | 0.83× |
| Self-storage facilities | 72 | 5.2 | 0.75× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 71 | 5.1 | 1.48× |
Index: local share of all establishments divided by the US share; above 1 means the trade is more common here than nationally.
More common here than nationally: landscaping services, child day care services, electrical contractors and road and paving contractors. Landscaping services show it most, with 964 establishments, 1.6 times the share nationwide. Under-represented categories: physicians' offices, personal care services, general freight trucking and dentists. Physicians' offices are the thinnest at 534, about half of the national share. Specialty trade contractors, restaurants and grocery stores track the US share closely.
Adjusted for population, restaurants are the thickest on the ground (218 per 100,000), with landscaping services and plumbing and HVAC contractors next. Three categories dominate by count: restaurants at 3,025, landscaping services at 964 and plumbing and HVAC contractors at 781. Grouped, the home-services trades hold 1.4 times the share they hold nationally, while medical and dental practices sit at about half of.
A crowded category like landscaping services, child day care services and electrical contractors rewards precision: exact-match search terms, service-area fencing, Local Services Ads where the trade is eligible, and a Business Profile that is answered daily. Broad campaigns get outspent. The thin categories, physicians' offices, personal care services and general freight trucking, are the cheapest place to build a name: fewer bidders, cheaper clicks, and searchers with fewer options. Homeownership of 74.3% is above the national share; more of the households that search for home services are also the ones that decide and pay. Residents here are older than the US median (5.9 years above the national median); they search, read reviews and call, which puts the weight on search, the listing and the phone.
The services that fit this market, given the numbers above. Each links to the full description.
Keeping the Business Profile complete, current and answered so it earns the map placement.
Search optimization aimed at the local queries that produce calls.
A clean, fast site with one job: make the call happen.
Call and form tracking so every campaign is judged on leads, not clicks.
An answering service that books and qualifies rather than sending callers to voicemail.
Search advertising that pays for intent, not impressions.
The audit is free and specific: your listing, your site, your tracking, and what to do first.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023.