Maine is following the national trend of an improving economy, with household income up and the official poverty rate down.
James Mayall of the Maine Center for Economic Policy says median income in Maine is up.
“Median income went from about $49,500 in 2014 to $51,500, so an increase of about $2,000. That represents a 4 percent increase,” he says.
The national increase was 5.2 percent. Mayall says while Maine’s economy is improving, it’s at a slower rate than the nation as a whole. The same holds true for the official poverty rate — Maine’s rate went down slightly while the national rate decreased by 1.2 percent.
Mayall says Mainers still are not back to the income levels they enjoyed before the recession, when the numbers are adjusted for inflation.
