State rental intelligence

Maine rental market data

A source-traced view across 4 metro markets and 16 counties. State figures below are labelled medians and totals—not a made-up statewide investment score.

4/4 metros scored16/16 counties with FEMA risk14 sources used in this analysis

Median scored metro47.0out of 100 · 4 measured metros

Maine identity diorama showing regional landscape, cities, housing, and infrastructure

Median metro home value$332kmedian across published metro values

Median metro rent$1,543monthly · published metro values

Median gross yield5.4%annual rent ÷ price · before costs

Median job trend▲ 0.1%trailing 12-month metro employment

Direct monthly rental evidence

Maine rent market dynamics

Apartment List measures recent leases, rental vacancy and listing time separately. These figures do not replace Zillow, Census or Realtor measures elsewhere on this page.

Recent-lease rent$1,1172026-07 · ▼ 5.7% year over year

Rental Vacancy Indexn/anot published for this state

Time on marketn/anot published for this state

US recent-lease rent$1,3882026-07 · ▼ 1.1% year over year

Rent and rental vacancy through timesolid state series · dashed national series · no interpolation across missing observations

State research brief

A 5.7% drop in Maine’s recent-lease rent measure sits opposite positive asking-rent growth in the central range of four measured metros, making local lease verification the key screening test.

Updated 2026-08-08 · evidence current to the releases listed below.

The central tension is between two distinct rent measures. Apartment List’s statewide recent-lease rent fell 5.7%, while Zillow’s metro asking-rent distribution had a 2.5% to 3.8% 10th-to-90th-percentile growth range. These series have different coverage and should not be blended; the divergence makes signed leases and directly comparable listings more useful than either measure alone for property screening.

Other evidence does not fully resolve that split. Migration records sum to a net inflow, but measured metro employment was nearly flat and mixed. Resale conditions range from a slower Bangor market to a tighter Portland market, while high county-level ACS vacancy often appears in predominantly single-family housing. The packet supports locality-specific screening, but it cannot establish current property-level rental vacancy, operating costs, building condition or parcel hazard exposure.

Apartment List recent-lease rent fell 5.7% → require signed-lease and renewal evidence before underwriting continued rent growth.

Metro asking rents had 3.2% median growth versus 1.3% home-value growth → screen markets where rent support is confirmed without assuming the statewide recent-lease decline applies uniformly.

Net migration was positive while median metro job growth was only 0.1% → treat household inflow as a counter-signal, not proof of broad wage-backed demand.

Bangor had 5.0 months of resale supply versus Portland’s 2.7 months → model acquisition and exit liquidity by metro rather than from a state average.

County housing was 77.0% single-family at the median, with only 2.2% large multifamily → do not interpret high all-housing vacancy as readily available apartment inventory.

Direct state rental dynamics

Recent-lease rents weakened much faster than the national series

Apartment List’s Maine recent-lease rent measure was $1,117, down from $1,185 and 5.7% lower year over year. The national rent series declined 1.1%, making Maine’s growth rate 4.7 percentage points more negative.

The packet does not provide a Maine Apartment List Vacancy Index or Maine time-on-market figure. The available national measures show vacancy moving from 7.1% to 7.2% and time on market from 28 to 30 days, but those are separate national series and cannot establish rental vacancy or listing time in Maine.

Evidence: Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent index · Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity · Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy

Price and rent momentum

Metro asking-rent growth stayed positive while home values lagged

Across four measured metros, Zillow asking-rent growth had a 3.2% median and a 2.5% to 3.8% 10th-to-90th-percentile range. Home-value growth was slower, with a 1.3% median and a 0.9% to 1.8% central range. At the medians, asking-rent growth exceeded home-value growth by 2.0 percentage points.

Bangor paired 3.8% asking-rent growth with 1.9% home-value growth and a 6.5% gross-yield screen. Lewiston recorded 3.7% rent growth and 1.4% value growth, while Portland recorded 2.7% and 1.1%, respectively. These asking-rent results are a genuine counter-signal to the statewide recent-lease decline, not a replacement for it. Gross yield also excludes vacancy, maintenance, taxes, insurance and financing.

Evidence: Zillow ZHVI — metro home values · Zillow ZORI — metro market rents

Employment and household movement

Positive migration meets an almost flat employment base

Migration records cover 16 counties and sum to 38,845 arrivals and 35,207 departures, a net inflow of 3,638 people or 2.6 per 1,000 residents. Aggregate adjusted gross income moving in exceeded income moving out by $108,384.

Employment is a weaker signal. Across four measured metros, year-over-year job growth had a 0.1% median and a 10th-to-90th-percentile range from negative 0.8% to positive 0.3%. Portland and Lewiston were each up 0.3%, while Bangor was down 0.2%. Migration and employment therefore do not point equally strongly toward rental demand, and their different measurement windows cannot establish current tenant depth for a particular property.

Evidence: Census ACS 5-year — population · BLS CES — payroll employment · BLS LAUS — resident employment · IRS SOI — county migration and mover income

Supply and resale conditions

Bangor’s slower resale market contrasts with tighter Portland conditions

The four-metro resale distribution had a 3.0-month median supply, with a 2.4-to-4.5-month central range. Median marketing time was 37.5 days, and the median share of listings with price drops was 28.2%. Bangor was the softer highlighted market at 5.0 months of supply, 58 days on market, 31.8% price drops and a 96.5% sale-to-list ratio. Portland recorded 2.7 months, 30 days, 22.3% price drops and a 100.1% sale-to-list ratio.

Permitting is also uneven. Portland recorded 4,020 permitted units, or 7.1 per 1,000 residents, compared with 452 in Lewiston and 478 in Augusta. Permits are not completed units and do not identify rental tenure. Redfin resale marketing time likewise cannot be treated as apartment listing time, but it does help distinguish acquisition and exit liquidity among the measured metros.

Evidence: Census Building Permits Survey — permitted units · Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts

Housing stock and tenant conditions

High county vacancy often sits in predominantly single-family stock

Across 16 counties, the ACS all-housing vacancy rate had a 22.6% median and a 13.8% to 38.8% central range. The median renter share was 22.4%, while single-family homes represented 77.0% of stock and large multifamily properties represented 2.2%. Piscataquis County had 42.9% vacancy and 82.4% single-family stock; Franklin County had 40.3% and 77.2%; Hancock County had 37.3% and 81.9%.

High vacancy does not imply low tenant pressure. The median share of renters spending at least 30% of income on rent was 48.4%. Oxford County combined a 54.2% burden share with 34.5% all-housing vacancy and a 19.4% renter share, while Androscoggin County combined a 51.4% burden share with 7.0% vacancy and a 32.1% renter share. Because the ACS figure covers all housing, it cannot identify currently available apartments, seasonal status, unit condition or property-level occupancy.

Evidence: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock

Physical risk and property tax

Inland flood leads the county hazard labels, but parcel exposure remains unknown

Inland flood is the mutually exclusive leading-hazard label for 15 counties, while hurricane is the leading label for one. Across 16 measured counties, FEMA expected-loss ratios had a 0.117% median and a 0.100% to 0.146% central range. Franklin County’s highlighted ratio was 0.157%.

Effective property-tax rates had a 1.04% median and a 0.88% to 1.16% central range, while median tax bills had a $2,583 midpoint. Knox County recorded a 1.17% rate and a $3,786 median bill. These county figures can flag underwriting questions, but a leading-hazard label is not parcel-level exposure and county tax measures do not determine the bill for a specific acquisition.

Evidence: FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratios · Census ACS 5-year — effective property tax

Evidence selected for Maine

The ranges behind the analysis

Each row keeps its own unit and shows the measured 10th percentile, median and 90th percentile. A single-value row is labelled directly.

Price and rent momentumAre home values and asking rents moving together or separating?

Employment and household movementDo jobs, household movement and mover income point in the same direction?

Supply and resale conditionsWhat do permits, inventory, marketing time and price cuts say about pressure?

Shape of the state

Distribution before conclusion

A statewide median can hide a wide spread. These SVG charts render at build time and carry no chart library or browser-side data request.

Metro score distribution4 scored metros · median 47.0

County evidence coverageEvery gap stays visible as missing—not estimated

Highest measured metro gross yieldsscreening metric only · before expenses and financing

Metro leaderboard

Markets touching Maine

Multi-state CBSAs appear in every member state. Score is still a metro score; no value is reweighted into a statewide ranking.

#	Metro	Score	Price	Rent	Yield	Jobs
1	Lewiston, ME	60	$338k	$1,522	5.4%	▲ 0.3%
2	Portland, ME	49	$550k	$2,352	5.1%	▲ 0.3%
3	Bangor, ME	45	$290k	$1,563	6.5%	▼ 0.2%
4	Augusta, ME	40	$325k	$1,481	5.5%	▼ 1.0%

Below the metro line

Largest counties in Maine

County figures join on the five-digit FIPS code. The table uses measured local values and prints “n/a” wherever a publisher has no record.

County	Population	Price	Rent	Yield	Hazard
Cumberland County, ME	308,827	$574k	$2,445	5.1%	inland flooding
York County, ME	216,731	$537k	$2,151	4.8%	inland flooding
Penobscot County, ME	154,710	$290k	$1,563	6.5%	inland flooding
Kennebec County, ME	126,808	$325k	$1,481	5.5%	inland flooding
Androscoggin County, ME	113,423	$338k	$1,522	5.4%	inland flooding
Aroostook County, ME	67,058	$174k	$1,052	7.3%	inland flooding
Oxford County, ME	59,255	$328k	$1,628	6.0%	inland flooding
Hancock County, ME	56,460	$434k	$1,525	4.2%	inland flooding
Somerset County, ME	50,959	$239k	$1,385	7.0%	inland flooding
Knox County, ME	41,003	$450k	$1,742	4.7%	hurricane
Waldo County, ME	40,192	$352k	$1,892	6.5%	inland flooding
Sagadahoc County, ME	37,285	$443k	$1,868	5.1%	inland flooding

County yield sample12/16counties have the rent needed to compute yield

Statewide net migration+3,638IRS tax-return households summed across counties

Median investor share7.8%among counties with HMDA purchase records

City markets

Go from Maine to a city record

These links exist only where an official Census place, direct city price and rent series, and a checked city brief are all available.

City · MEPortland$571k home · $2,429 rent · 5.1% yield City · MELewiston$306k home · $1,480 rent · 5.8% yield City · MEBangor$295k home · $1,592 rent · 6.5% yield

Sources used in this analysis

Measured releases, not a global source count

Only sources supporting the selected evidence modules are listed here.

Census ACS 5-year — populationACS 2024 5-yearRetrieved 2026-07-26 Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent indexApartment List 2026-07Retrieved 2026-08-08 Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidityApartment List 2026-07Retrieved 2026-08-08 Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancyApartment List 2026-07Retrieved 2026-08-08 BLS CES — payroll employmentCES SM currentRetrieved 2026-07-26 BLS LAUS — resident employmentLAUS currentRetrieved 2026-07-26 Census Building Permits Survey — permitted unitsBPS through 2026Retrieved 2026-07-26 Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stockACS 2024 5-yearRetrieved 2026-07-30 FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratiosNRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS)Retrieved 2026-07-26 IRS SOI — county migration and mover incomeSOI migration 2022-2023Retrieved 2026-07-26 Census ACS 5-year — effective property taxACS 2024 5-yearRetrieved 2026-08-06 Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cutsmetro tracker through 2026-05-01Retrieved 2026-07-26 Zillow ZHVI — metro home valuesMetro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csvRetrieved 2026-07-26 Zillow ZORI — metro market rentsMetro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csvRetrieved 2026-07-26

Bear case

What can break the thesis

Recent-lease rents and asking rents point in opposite directions because they measure different segments; a thesis based on only one series may misread achievable property rent.
Employment growth was nearly flat and included contraction in Bangor, weakening the case that positive migration alone represents durable tenant demand.
County rent levels cover 12 counties and county rent growth covers only 6; Realtor listing measures cover 14 counties, with no county listing-price observations.
Gross yields omit vacancy, repairs, taxes, insurance, financing and building condition, so the reported yield screens are not net returns.
Permits do not establish completions or rental tenure, and county hazard labels do not establish parcel exposure.

Investor questions

Before underwriting a property

Which rent measure should drive a Maine acquisition screen?

Use Apartment List’s 5.7% recent-lease decline as a caution and Zillow’s positive metro asking-rent growth as a locality-specific counter-signal. Because the measures differ, neither substitutes for signed leases, renewal history and directly comparable available units.

Does the packet show strengthening rental demand?

Only partly. Migration records sum to a net inflow of 3,638 people, but median metro job growth was 0.1%, with a central range from negative 0.8% to positive 0.3%. That combination does not establish strong demand for any specific unit type or county.

Where does measured resale liquidity look weakest?

Among the highlighted metros, Bangor was weakest, with 5.0 months of supply, 58 days on market, 31.8% price drops and a 96.5% sale-to-list ratio. Portland was tighter at 2.7 months, 30 days and a 100.1% ratio.

Does high county vacancy imply plentiful rental supply?

No. The ACS measure covers all housing, and the median county stock was 77.0% single-family. Piscataquis, Franklin and Hancock combined high all-housing vacancy with single-family shares above 77%, so current apartment availability remains unmeasured.

How should the hazard data enter underwriting?

Use the county labels and expected-loss ratios to identify where parcel-level review is needed. Fifteen counties have inland flood as their leading-hazard label, but that classification does not show whether a particular building is exposed or what its insurance cost will be.