MAINE PAYCHECK CALCULATOR
Quick answer: on a $70,000 salary in Maine, filing Single, you take home roughly $55,000 a year, which works out to about $2,115 every two weeks on a biweekly schedule.
Maine’s brackets, standard deduction, and personal exemption all adjust for inflation every year, so the exact dollar thresholds shift slightly each tax season. Scroll down to plug in your own numbers.
Maine runs a fairly conventional three-bracket progressive income tax, 5.8%, 6.75%, and 7.15%, but with one feature that sets it apart from most states: every threshold, along with the standard deduction and personal exemption, gets adjusted for inflation annually by Maine Revenue Services. That means the exact dollar cutoffs move a little each year even though the rates themselves have stayed the same since a 2016 restructuring. The Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index ranks Maine 26th out of 50 states, up five spots from the year before, an improvement driven mainly by a decline in property tax collections relative to personal income rather than any change to the income tax itself. Property tax remains Maine’s weakest link on that index: the state levies both an estate tax and a real estate transfer tax on top of already-high rates, and it taxes tangible personal property without the small-business exemption most states offer.
What lands on a Maine paystub is straightforward. Federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare come out first, the same as anywhere else. Maine state tax follows, calculated using the bracket table below after subtracting the standard deduction and personal exemption. There is no local city or town income tax anywhere in the state, and no state disability insurance or paid family leave deduction taken directly from wages. If you are comparing Maine against its neighbors, the contrast across New England is sharp: see the New Hampshire paycheck calculator for a state with no individual income tax at all, or the Massachusetts paycheck calculator for a flat rate with an added surtax on very high earners.
Maine Paycheck Calculator
How the Federal Number Was Worked Out
Take the default example above, a single filer earning $70,000 a year with no other adjustments. Here is exactly how the federal piece gets built, step by step, using the 2026 IRS brackets and the $16,100 single standard deduction, which is entirely separate from Maine’s own state-level deduction.
Step 1. $70,000 gross minus the $16,100 standard deduction leaves $53,900 in federal taxable income.
Step 2. The first $12,400 is taxed at 10%, which comes to $1,240.
Step 3. The next chunk, from $12,400 to $50,400, is taxed at 12%. That is $38,000 taxed at 12%, or $4,560.
Step 4. The remaining $3,500, from $50,400 up to the $53,900 taxable income figure, is taxed at 22%, adding $770.
Step 5. Add it up: $1,240 + $4,560 + $770 = $6,570 in federal income tax, an effective federal rate of about 9.4% on the full $70,000.
On the Maine side, the same $70,000 loses a $15,300 standard deduction and a $5,300 personal exemption, leaving $49,400 in Maine taxable income before the three brackets apply.
Maine vs Its New England Neighbors at $70,000 (Single Filer)
These numbers assume a single filer taking the standard deduction and personal exemption where applicable, with no local or city-level tax added.
| State | State Income Tax | Effective State Rate | Est. Net Pay* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maine | $3,074 | 4.39% | $55,001 |
| New Hampshire | $0 | 0% | $58,075 |
*Net pay estimate includes federal tax and FICA at $70,000 gross, single filer, before any local or city-level tax. Massachusetts and Vermont are left out of this table since their exact 2026 deduction figures vary meaningfully across sources; Massachusetts runs a flat 5% (plus a 4% surtax on income above $1 million) and Vermont’s top rate reaches 8.75%, both worth checking directly before comparing precise dollar amounts.
New Hampshire’s complete lack of an individual income tax makes it the obvious outlier here, and that gap became even more pronounced on January 1, 2025, when the state finished phasing out its old tax on interest and dividend income, pushing it to 3rd place overall on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 Index. Maine makes up some ground in ways that do not show up in a paycheck comparison: its combined sales tax, a flat 5.5% with no local add-ons, is one of the lowest in the country, while New Hampshire pays for its missing income and sales tax partly through the third-highest property tax rate in the nation.
Where Your Paycheck Money Actually Goes
Picture that same $70,000 salary landing as a biweekly paycheck of $2,692.31 before anything is taken out. Here is the order things get pulled, and what is left standing at the end.
Federal income tax comes off first, working out to roughly $252.69 per biweekly check based on the annual $6,570 figure above.
Social Security takes 6.2% of every check up until your year-to-date wages hit the 2026 wage base of $184,500. On $2,692.31, that is $166.92 gone.
Medicare takes 1.45% with no cap at all, which is $39.04 on this check. The extra 0.9% Medicare surtax only kicks in once your total wages for the year pass $200,000 for a single filer, so it does not apply here.
Maine state tax, based on the roughly $3,074 annual figure, works out to about $118.23 per biweekly check.
There is no state disability, paid family leave, or local city tax on a standard Maine paystub anywhere in the state. Add those four deductions together and about $576.88 disappears from the $2,692.31 gross, leaving a net paycheck of roughly $2,115.42 every two weeks, or $55,000.98 across the full year.
Maine’s 2026 Tax Brackets by Filing Status
Maine Revenue Services released these inflation-adjusted figures for tax year 2026 in September 2025. All three brackets and both deduction amounts move slightly every year, so always confirm the current-year numbers before filing.
Single or Married Filing Separately
| Rate | Taxable Income |
|---|---|
| 5.8% | $0 to $27,400 |
| 6.75% | $27,400 to $64,850 ($1,589 base) |
| 7.15% | Above $64,850 ($4,117 base) |
Head of Household
| Rate | Taxable Income |
|---|---|
| 5.8% | $0 to $41,100 |
| 6.75% | $41,100 to $97,300 ($2,384 base) |
| 7.15% | Above $97,300 ($6,178 base) |
Married Filing Jointly
| Rate | Taxable Income |
|---|---|
| 5.8% | $0 to $54,800 |
| 6.75% | $54,800 to $129,700 ($3,178 base) |
| 7.15% | Above $129,700 ($8,234 base) |
Maine’s standard deduction, $15,300 single and married filing separately, $30,600 married filing jointly, phases out entirely for single filers with Maine income above $102,250 and joint filers above $204,550. Additional amounts are available for filers who are 65 or older or blind, ranging from $2,050 for an unmarried filer up to $6,600 for a married couple where both spouses qualify on both counts.
How Maine’s Tax Burden Stacks Up
| Tax Type | Maine | National Picture |
|---|---|---|
| Income tax | Three brackets, 5.8% to 7.15%, indexed to inflation | Nine states charge no income tax at all; several charge over 9% |
| Sales tax | Flat 5.5% statewide, no local add-ons anywhere | National average combined rate runs close to 7.5%, so Maine runs well below it |
| Property tax | Roughly 1.24% effective rate, among the least competitive nationally | National average sits close to 0.9% to 1.1% |
| Estate tax | Maine levies its own estate tax, with a $6.8 million exemption, plus a separate real estate transfer tax | Most states have no estate tax at all |
Property tax is genuinely the weak point in Maine’s tax structure, and the Tax Foundation calls it out specifically: high rates, an estate tax stacked on top of a real estate transfer tax, and no small-business exemption on tangible personal property all drag on the state’s overall competitiveness. The flip side is a clean, low sales tax with no local variation to track, which simplifies life for both shoppers and small businesses compared to states where the sticker rate and the real combined rate can differ by county or city. For homeowners and renters with lower incomes, Maine’s Property Tax Fairness Credit offers a refundable offset tied to how much property tax someone pays relative to their income, though it does not change the underlying rate.
Retirees in Maine
Maine treats Social Security the same generous way most states with an income tax do: fully exempt, no phase-outs, no income thresholds. Military retirement pay gets the same complete exemption. Other retirement income, private pensions, annuities, and withdrawals from 401(k) and IRA accounts, qualifies for a separate pension income deduction, but this one comes with real limits worth understanding before counting on it. The deduction is capped at an amount tied to the maximum annual Social Security benefit for someone retiring at full retirement age, which means it adjusts every year along with federal Social Security figures rather than staying fixed. It also phases out for higher earners, disappearing for single filers with federal adjusted gross income above $125,000 and joint filers above $250,000. A retiree relying heavily on a large private pension or substantial retirement account withdrawals should run the actual numbers each year rather than assume the deduction covers everything, since the phase-out and the annually shifting cap both affect how much of that income actually escapes Maine tax.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much state tax does Maine take out of my paycheck?
Maine uses three tax brackets for 2026: 5.8% on the first slice of taxable income, 6.75% on the next tier, and 7.15% on anything above roughly $64,850 for a single filer. Maine’s brackets, standard deduction, and personal exemption are all indexed to inflation and adjust every year.
What is Maine’s standard deduction for 2026?
For 2026, Maine’s standard deduction is $15,300 for single filers and married filing separately, and $30,600 for married filing jointly, according to Maine Revenue Services. On top of that, every taxpayer gets a personal exemption of $5,300 per person, including a spouse on a joint return.
Does Maine have a local city income tax?
No. There is no city or local income tax anywhere in Maine. The only income tax that comes out of a Maine paycheck is the state’s own 5.8% to 7.15% bracket system, on top of federal tax and FICA.
Is Maine a good state for taxes overall?
Maine ranks 26th out of 50 states on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index, an improvement of five spots driven mainly by a decline in property tax collections relative to personal income. Maine’s property tax structure is still considered one of the least competitive in the country, partly offset by one of the lowest combined sales tax rates nationally at a flat 5.5% with no local add-ons.
Does Maine tax Social Security and pension income?
Maine does not tax Social Security benefits at all. Military retirement pay is fully exempt as well. Other pension and retirement income qualifies for a separate deduction capped at an amount tied to the maximum Social Security benefit, which adjusts annually, though this deduction phases out for higher earners.
How does Maine compare to New Hampshire on taxes?
New Hampshire has no individual income tax at all, having fully phased out its remaining tax on interest and dividend income on January 1, 2025, which helped push it to 3rd place overall on the Tax Foundation’s 2026 Index. Maine, by contrast, taxes wages at 5.8% to 7.15%, though New Hampshire makes up some of the difference with the 3rd highest property tax rate in the country.
Maine’s tax code rewards checking the numbers every year rather than assuming last year’s figures still apply. The brackets, the standard deduction, and the personal exemption all shift slightly with inflation, which keeps the system fair over time but means a number memorized from a prior tax season can be quietly out of date. Between that annual indexing, a genuinely low sales tax, and a property tax system that pulls the state’s overall ranking down more than its income tax does, Maine’s tax picture is more balanced than the 7.15% top rate alone suggests.