Maine Ranks #1 in Highest Property Tax Burden, and It’s About to Get Worse

If you own property in Maine, you likely know that comes with a bit of a tax headache. Mainers are hit with higher property taxes compared to the rest of the country. It’s been like this for ages, and as tax season rolls around, the usual grumbles start again.

WalletHub’s 2024 Tax Burden By State report came out earlier this year, and guess what? Maine tops the charts for the highest property tax burden in the country, ranking #4 for overall tax burden. Wallethub looked at Key metrics such as property taxes, income taxes, and sales/excise taxes across all states, and our little corner of the country didn’t exactly shine.

Northern New England isn’t doing much better. Vermont is #2 and New Hampshire is #4 for property taxes. However, New Hampshire’s overall tax burden is lower, likely because they don’t have a sales tax.

So why is Maine's tax burden so high? One reason appears to be that our small population is spread out over a large area. As a result, it costs more to provide services here compared to densely populated states.

And then there's South Portland in particular, where the real estate market has exploded over the last four years. This boom forced the city assessor to reevaluate property assessments, leading to big tax increases for many residents.

According to WMTW, South Portland residents should expect significant property tax increases anywhere from 12% to 60% (yes, 60%). What does this mean for the rest of Maine? Nothing has been confirmed town-by-town, but it's a safe bet that most homeowners will see some sort of increase coming next year.