Maine County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 16 counties in Maine, scored 0–100 across five domains. Mean score: 49.5. 1county is in Serious Stress or Crisis.
Data: Census, BLS, Urban Institute, HUD, US Courts | Scores as of 2026-03-17
Maine Snapshot
Maine County Map
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All 16 Maine counties colored by distress zone. Hover for details; click released counties for full reports.
Most & Least Distressed
Most Distressed
Least Distressed
Score Distribution
How Maine's 16 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All Maine Counties
16 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Zone | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 390 | Washington County | 66.8 | Serious Stress | Income & Poverty |
| 2 | 614 | Piscataquis County | 63.1 | Elevated | Employment & Wages |
| 3 | 923 | Somerset County | 58.7 | Elevated | Employment & Wages |
| 4 | 1,050 | Aroostook County | 57.4 | Elevated | Employment & Wages |
| 5 | 1,056 | Androscoggin County | 57.3 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 6 | 1,111 | Oxford County | 56.5 | Elevated | Employment & Wages |
| 7 | 1,331 | Penobscot County | 53.5 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 8 | 1,387 | Franklin County | 52.8 | Elevated | Employment & Wages |
| 9 | 1,428 | Waldo County | 52.3 | Elevated | Employment & Wages |
| 10 | 1,712 | Kennebec County | 48.4 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 11 | 1,766 | Hancock County | 47.8 | Normal | Employment & Wages |
| 12 | 2,502 | Knox County | 37.7 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 13 | 2,529 | Lincoln County | 37.1 | Normal | Employment & Wages |
| 14 | 2,578 | Sagadahoc County | 36.2 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 15 | 2,608 | York County | 35.7 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 16 | 2,861 | Cumberland County | 30.7 | Healthy | Housing Cost Burden |
0 of 16 county reports for Maine are currently available. All 16 counties are scored and visible on the map above. New county reports are published weekly.
How County Scores Work
Each county is scored 0–100 using percentile-rank averaging across five data domains: Debt & Delinquency, Income & Poverty, Housing Cost Burden, Employment & Wages, and Community Vulnerability. A score of 50 means the county falls at the national median. Higher scores indicate greater financial distress.