PaycheckCalc

State paycheck calculator

Maine Paycheck Calculator (2026)

Enter your annual salary below to see your Maine take-home pay after federal, state, FICA, and any local taxes for 2026.

Enter your salary to begin

Type above or pick a quick salary to see your 2026 take-home pay instantly.

Quick answer

Maine applies a progressive state income tax topping at 7.15%, paired with a small Maine PFML employee contribution. At $85,000 single, the after-tax estimate is $63,739 per year. No Maine city or town levies a separate local income tax on wages.

Three brackets structure Maine's progressive state income tax, climbing to a top marginal rate of 7.15% on income above the highest threshold. Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave launched as an employee payroll contribution in 2025 with benefits payable beginning in 2026; the deduction appears on the pay stub as Maine PFML. The state's economic identity centers on the coast and the woods: Portland anchors a growing tech and finance sector layered onto a historic working waterfront, with population growth among the fastest in northern New England. Bangor serves as the regional hospital and shopping hub for eastern Maine and Stephen King's hometown; Augusta houses state government. Lewiston-Auburn, the former Franco-American mill towns, are transitioning from textile and shoe manufacturing toward healthcare and immigrant-driven small business. Forestry, paper, and fishing remain meaningful across rural counties even as paper-mill employment has declined sharply. Maine runs no traditional SDI program separate from PFML and no city or town wage tax. At $85,000 for a single filer, federal income tax lands at $9,870, state income tax at $4,464, combined FICA at $6,503, and take-home for the year at $63,739. The effective total rate is 25.01%. Use the calculator below to compare Maine against neighboring New Hampshire or Vermont.

Maine state tax breakdown

Single-filer state income tax brackets used by the calculator for 2026.

Taxable IncomeRate
$0 - $27,4005.8%
$27,400 - $64,8506.75%
$64,850+7.15%

vs. baseline ($85,000 single filer)

A $85,000 salary in Maine takes home approximately $4,900 less than the same salary in a no-income-tax state like Texas or Florida.

What this estimate includes

This calculator computes Maine take-home pay using 2026 federal brackets after the standard deduction, FICA contributions (Social Security at the federal rate up to the annual wage base, Medicare on all wages, plus the Additional Medicare Tax above the filing-status threshold), Maine's state income tax schedule above, and any local income tax or state-administered payroll program (SDI, PFML, FAMLI) when you select a city or county. For states with no broad-based personal income tax, the state line is zero. It excludes employer-side payroll taxes, custom W-4 elections, supplemental-wage handling for bonuses or equity vesting, and income from sources other than W-2 wages.

Maine paycheck FAQ

What is the federal tax bill on $85,000 single in Maine for 2026?
A $85,000 single filer in Maine owes approximately $9,870 in federal income tax, with the top slice of taxable income inside the 22% federal bracket after the standard deduction. The federal calculation runs the same in every state, so a Maine resident sees the same federal line as a New Hampshire or Vermont counterpart at this gross.
How much Maine state tax does someone owe on $85,000?
Maine state income tax at $85,000 for a single filer is approximately $4,464, an effective state rate of 5.25%. The marginal rate at the top slice is 7.15% under the three-bracket schedule. Maine PFML adds a small per-paycheck contribution on top of the bracket tax, already rolled into the take-home estimate.
Do Portland, Bangor, or any other Maine city tax wages?
Cities and towns in Maine do not levy a separate income tax on wages. Portland, Lewiston, Bangor, South Portland, Auburn, Biddeford, and Augusta residents all see the same state line on the pay stub. Property tax handles most of the local-government revenue load instead, particularly in coastal towns with sizable seasonal-property bases.
How much does a 401(k) contribution save at $85,000 in Maine?
At $85,000 single in Maine, the combined marginal rate is 29.15% (federal 22% plus state 7.15%). Traditional 401(k) and HSA contributions reduce both federal and Maine taxable income at that combined rate. Because Maine's top bracket starts at a moderate threshold, contributions that drop AGI below it shift the per-dollar saving to the lower-bracket rate.
What changes for married filing jointly, head of household, or filing separately at $85,000 in Maine?
Joint filers at $85,000 in Maine take home about $69,077, roughly $5,339 more than the single estimate. Wider federal MFJ brackets and the doubled federal standard deduction drive most of the change; Maine's joint brackets per Form 1040ME widen at double the single thresholds, adding state-side relief on top. Head of Household status (an unmarried filer with a qualifying dependent) lifts take-home to about $66,810, around $3,072 more than Single, since Maine Revenue Services routes HoH through the Single schedule. Combined Married Filing Separately take-home runs roughly $5,339 less than MFJ.
How does Maine compare to New Hampshire at $85,000?
New Hampshire taxes no wage income, so the take-home gap at the ME/NH border is meaningful: a Maine resident at $85,000 keeps roughly $4,889 less per year than a New Hampshire counterpart on the same gross. Federal tax and FICA are identical between the two; the entire gap is Maine state tax plus PFML.

Take-home at common salaries for Maine

Dedicated salary-anchor pages with a federal-state-FICA breakdown, vs-baseline callouts, and a calculator pre-set to that salary and Maine.

$50,000 after taxesin Maine$75,000 after taxesin Maine$100,000 after taxesin Maine$150,000 after taxesin Maine$200,000 after taxesin Maine$250,000 after taxesin Maine

See also

Run the full US paycheck calculatorHow the same salary lands in New HampshireHow the same salary lands in VermontHow the same salary lands in MassachusettsWork out per-paycheck pay from an hourly rate in MaineSee how a bonus is withheld in MaineSet dependents and multiple jobs on a Maine W-4See how two locations compare on take-homePaycheck and tax glossaryHow we calculate paycheck taxes

Reviewed

How This Page Is Reviewed

The Maine paycheck page is reviewed against primary federal and state sources before each major tax-year update. Source links below are the references used to validate brackets, wage bases, and supported local taxes.

Reviewed by

PaycheckCalc Research Desk

Last reviewed

2026-07-12