Maine's top bracket is 7.15%, and it begins at $63,450 of taxable income for a single filer. That is the number in the rate table.
It is not the highest marginal rate a Maine earner faces. Between $100,000 and $175,000 of Maine adjusted gross income, the standard deduction is withdrawn ratably — so each additional $1,000 earned is taxed at 7.15% and removes $200 of shelter that was also being taxed at 7.15%. The effective marginal rate in that band is close to 8.6%.
On $85,000, below that band, a single filer pays $4,128 and takes home $64,499.
A note before you start. This is general education, not tax advice. Federal figures are tax year 2026, from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and the Social Security Administration; Maine's brackets, deduction and exemption phase-outs and retirement rules come from this site's own sourced 50-state dataset, citing 36 M.R.S. and Maine Revenue Services' Form 1040ME instructions and rate schedules. Every dollar figure is computed by the same engine the site's calculators use, on a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependents or pre-tax deferrals unless stated. Property tax is discussed qualitatively.
1. What Maine takes
| Amount on $85,000 | |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | $85,000 |
| Federal income tax | −$9,870 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | −$5,270 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | −$1,233 |
| Maine income tax | −$4,128 |
| Take-home | $64,499 |
Across incomes, single filer:
| Salary | Maine tax | Effective ME rate | Take-home |
|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $571 | 1.90% | $24,714 |
| $45,000 | $1,441 | 3.20% | $36,897 |
| $60,000 | $2,435 | 4.06% | $47,955 |
| $85,000 | $4,128 | 4.86% | $64,499 |
| $120,000 | $6,917 | 5.76% | $86,333 |
| $175,000 | $11,636 | 6.65% | $119,243 |
Look at the jump from $120,000 to $175,000. The salary rises 46% and the tax rises 68%, from $6,917 to $11,636. That is the deduction disappearing across exactly that range, and it is section 3.
Maine's $571 at $30,000 is genuinely low — lower than Illinois's $1,340 or Massachusetts's $1,280 — because $20,150 of shelter is a large share of a small salary. Maine is progressive in a way that flat-rate states are not.
Run your own salary against Maine's brackets2. The brackets and the shelter
| Taxable income above (single) | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 | 5.8% |
| $26,800 | 6.75% |
| $63,450 | 7.15% |
Married-joint thresholds are exactly double at every step, which is the ordinary arrangement and worth noting because Maine's phase-out thresholds are not proportional at all.
The shelter is $20,150 for a single filer — a $15,000 standard deduction plus a $5,150 personal exemption. That is among the larger amounts in the country, and it is what keeps Maine's bill moderate at ordinary salaries despite a 5.8% opening rate.
For a single filer on $85,000: $20,150 sheltered, $64,850 taxable, and the calculation runs $26,800 at 5.8%, $36,650 at 6.75%, and $1,400 at 7.15% — $4,128.
Note how narrowly that clears the top bracket. Maine's 7.15% rate begins at $63,450 of taxable income, which for a single filer taking the standard shelter is $83,600 of salary. An $85,000 earner is $1,400 into the top bracket.
3. The phase-out that produces an 8.6% marginal rate
This is the mechanism worth understanding, and it is the thing most published Maine summaries omit.
The standard deduction phases out ratably where Maine AGI exceeds:
| Filing status | Phase-out begins | Deduction gone above |
|---|---|---|
| Single / married-separate | $100,000 | $175,000 |
| Head of household | $150,000 | $262,500 |
| Married filing jointly | $200,050 | $350,050 |
Across the $75,000 single-filer range, $15,000 of deduction disappears at a rate of $200 per $1,000 of income.
The arithmetic
Inside the phase-out band a single filer is in the 7.15% bracket. Each additional $1,000 of salary does two things:
- $1,000 more income is taxed at 7.15% → $71.50
- $200 of deduction is withdrawn, so another $200 is taxed at 7.15% → $14.30
Total: $85.80 of tax on $1,000 of income. An effective marginal rate of 8.58%.
That is 1.43 points above Maine's own top bracket, and it applies to a band of income — $100,000 to $175,000 — that a great many professional households sit in.
Two practical consequences:
A raise in that band is worth less than the bracket table suggests. Someone going from $110,000 to $125,000 keeps $85.80 less per $1,000 than the 7.15% figure implies, or about $214 across the whole raise.
A pre-tax deferral in that band is worth more. $10,000 into a traditional 401(k) at $120,000 saves 8.58% rather than 7.15% — $858 rather than $715. That is the single best-value state deferral available to a Maine earner, and it is available to precisely the people most able to make it.
The exemption phases out too — at completely different thresholds
Do not conflate the two. Maine's $5,150 personal exemption also phases out, but it begins at $333,450 of Maine AGI for a single filer — more than three times the standard deduction's threshold — and is eliminated over the next $125,000.
Maine Revenue Services publishes them as two separate worksheets with two separate CAUTION notes, precisely because treating them as one is the error people make. A filer at $150,000 has lost two thirds of the standard deduction and none of the exemption.
4. Filing jointly
| Salary | Single ME tax | Joint ME tax | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $571 | $0 | $571 |
| $45,000 | $1,441 | $273 | $1,168 |
| $60,000 | $2,435 | $1,143 | $1,292 |
| $85,000 | $4,128 | $2,593 | $1,535 |
| $120,000 | $6,917 | $4,871 | $2,046 |
| $175,000 | $11,636 | $8,614 | $3,022 |
$3,022 at $175,000 is one of the largest joint benefits of any state in this series, and it has two sources at once: the doubled brackets and the fact that a couple's standard deduction has not begun to phase out at $175,000 while a single filer's is gone entirely.
At $30,000 a couple owes Maine nothing, since $30,000 falls below the $40,300 joint shelter.
The pattern is worth naming: Maine's joint benefit grows sharply above $100,000 precisely because the phase-out is not proportional between filing statuses. That is a genuine marriage bonus, and an unusually large one.
5. What the paycheck actually looks like
On $85,000 as a single filer:
| Pay schedule | Gross per cheque | Net per cheque |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly (52) | $1,634.62 | $1,240.37 |
| Biweekly (26) | $3,269.23 | $2,480.74 |
| Semi-monthly (24) | $3,541.67 | $2,687.46 |
| Monthly (12) | $7,083.33 | $5,374.93 |
Biweekly and semi-monthly are not the same thing. Biweekly is 26 cheques — every other Friday — so two months a year carry three paydays. Semi-monthly is 24, on fixed dates, so every month carries exactly two. The annual total is identical; the monthly cash flow is not, and a biweekly earner budgeting on "two cheques a month" is under-counting by $4,961 a year.
Form W-4ME is Maine's own withholding certificate. If your income is anywhere near $100,000, this is worth attention, because the phase-out in section 3 means your actual liability rises faster than a standard withholding table anticipates. Under-withholding in that band is common.
Withholding is an estimate, not the tax. Over-withholding produces a refund; under-withholding a bill.
6. No local income tax
No Maine municipality, county or school district levies a tax on personal income. Form 1040ME computes a single state liability with no local tax line, no municipality-of-residence field and no local schedule.
A Maine take-home figure is complete as stated.
Maine local government is funded by property tax, and Maine's effective property tax rates on owner-occupied housing are among the higher ones in the country. For a homeowner that is the larger of the two bills, and it varies enormously by town — Maine has more than 400 municipalities, each setting its own mill rate.
Maine's Homestead Exemption removes a portion of a permanent resident's home value from assessment, and the Property Tax Fairness Credit on the income tax return refunds part of the bill for lower-income households. Both are worth checking, and both are claimed rather than automatic.
7. Social Security, and a broader exemption than most
Social Security benefits are fully exempt in Maine, with no income test.
And the exemption is broader than most states'. Maine's Schedule 1S subtracts the taxable amount of Social Security benefits and railroad retirement benefits at BOTH tier 1 and tier 2, together with unemployment and sick benefits issued by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board.
Most states that exempt railroad retirement exempt only tier 1, which is the Social Security-equivalent portion. Maine goes further and exempts tier 2 as well — the supplementary, employer-funded portion. For a retired railroad worker that is a materially better answer than in the average state, and it is the kind of specificity that a "does the state tax Social Security?" question never reaches.
8. The $48,216 pension deduction, and the offset that decides it
Maine's pension income deduction is $48,216 per person — one of the largest in the country, and it applies to the taxpayer and spouse separately, giving $96,432 on a joint return where both qualify.
Private and public pensions are treated identically. Both draw on the same deduction, and Maine's statute names state and federal pension benefits alongside private ones. There is no public–private asymmetry, which is unusual.
401(k), 403(b) and traditional IRA distributions qualify too.
But it is reduced dollar-for-dollar by Social Security received
This is the part that decides most real cases. The $48,216 is reduced by the amount of Social Security and railroad retirement benefits you receive.
Work through what that means. A retiree receiving $30,000 of Social Security has their pension deduction reduced from $48,216 to $18,216. One receiving $48,216 or more of Social Security has no pension deduction left at all.
| Retiree, single, 65+ | Pension deduction available | Maine tax on the $40,000 |
|---|---|---|
| $40,000 from a 401(k), no Social Security | $48,216 | $0 |
| $30,000 SS + $40,000 from a 401(k) | $18,216 | About $95 |
| $48,000 SS + $40,000 from a 401(k) | $216 | About $1,139 |
Read that middle row carefully, because it is the common case and it is better than the offset sounds. The deduction falls from $48,216 to $18,216 — a two-thirds cut — and the resulting tax is still only about $95, because the $20,150 standard shelter sits on top of it and the two together nearly cover the whole $40,000.
The offset only bites once your Social Security is large enough to consume most of the deduction. At $48,000 of benefits the pension deduction is essentially gone and the same $40,000 withdrawal costs about $1,139.
So Maine's headline deduction is generous and its practical value depends on your Social Security — but for a retiree with a typical benefit and a moderate withdrawal, Maine's answer is close to zero. A retiree with a large pension and no Social Security at all — a career employee under a system outside Social Security, for instance — gets the full $48,216.
That is a coherent design — Maine is exempting a total amount of retirement income rather than a category of it — and it is completely invisible in any summary that reports the $48,216 alone.
Military retirement is fully exempt, outside this offset entirely.
9. Where Maine ranks
At $85,000, Maine's $4,128 is thirty-seventh of the 41 income-tax states.
| State | Tax on $85,000 |
|---|---|
| Illinois | $4,063 |
| Virginia | $4,073 |
| Maine | $4,128 |
| Minnesota | $4,257 |
| Delaware | $4,269 |
Against its neighbours and the region:
| Salary | ME | NH | VT | MA | NY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $571 | $0 | $1,005 | $1,280 | $1,023 |
| $45,000 | $1,441 | $0 | $1,508 | $2,030 | $1,833 |
| $85,000 | $4,128 | $0 | $4,005 | $4,030 | $3,993 |
| $175,000 | $11,636 | $0 | $10,498 | $8,530 | $9,285 |
Maine is the cheapest of the four taxing states at $30,000 and the most expensive at $175,000. That is the phase-out doing its work: a large shelter at the bottom, withdrawn entirely by the top.
New Hampshire takes nothing, and Maine's western border with it is long. $4,128 a year at $85,000 is the full cost of that border on income tax alone — set against New Hampshire's property tax, which is among the highest in the country, and Maine's, which is also high. That comparison is closer than the income tax line suggests, and it depends on the specific towns.
10. MERIT
Maine runs a live auto-IRA mandate. Employers with five or more employees that do not offer a qualifying retirement plan must enrol staff in the Maine Retirement Investment Trust (MERIT), at a 5% default deferral, with a penalty of $50 per employee for non-compliance.
For an employee: you are enrolled by default and may opt out. It is a Roth IRA, so contributions are after tax and do not reduce your Maine or federal taxable income — the figures in this article are unaffected. IRA contribution and income limits apply.
5% of $85,000 is $4,250 a year leaving your paycheck automatically.
11. What you can control
Pre-tax deferrals save 7.15% at state level for an $85,000 earner — and 8.58% for anyone between $100,000 and $175,000, for the reason in section 3. A $10,000 traditional 401(k) contribution saves $2,200 federally plus $715 at $85,000, or $858 at $120,000.
HSA contributions through payroll cut federal tax, Maine tax and FICA. On $4,400 that is roughly $968 federal, $315 Maine and $337 FICA — about $1,620, or 37% of the amount contributed.
Capital gains get no state preference. Maine taxes them as ordinary income on the 5.8% to 7.15% schedule — and a large realised gain in the $100,000–$175,000 band is taxed at the 8.58% effective rate, not 7.15%. Spreading a gain across two tax years to stay under $100,000 is a real strategy in Maine, in a way it is not in a flat-rate state.
And if you are planning retirement here, section 8's Social Security offset is the number to model, not the $48,216 headline.
Frequently asked questions
What is Maine's income tax rate? Three brackets: 5.8% up to $26,800 of taxable income, 6.75% to $63,450, and 7.15% above that, for a single filer. Married-joint thresholds are exactly double.
What is take-home pay on $85,000 in Maine? $64,499 for a single filer taking the standard deduction, after $9,870 federal income tax, $6,503 FICA and $4,128 Maine income tax.
Why does my Maine tax jump so much above $100,000? Because the standard deduction phases out ratably between $100,000 and $175,000 of Maine AGI. Each $1,000 of income is taxed at 7.15% and removes $200 of shelter also taxed at 7.15% — an effective marginal rate of 8.58%.
Does the personal exemption phase out at the same point? No, and conflating the two is the standard error. The exemption phases out from $333,450 of Maine AGI for a single filer — more than three times the standard deduction's threshold.
Does Maine tax Social Security? No. Benefits are fully exempt, and the exemption covers railroad retirement at both tier 1 and tier 2, which most states do not do.
How does Maine's $48,216 pension deduction work? It is per person and covers pensions, 401(k)s and IRAs alike, public and private identically. But it is reduced dollar-for-dollar by the Social Security you receive, so a retiree with $30,000 of Social Security has only $18,216 of it left.
Can a Maine town tax my income? No. Maine municipalities are funded by property tax, which is among the higher effective rates in the country and varies enormously across Maine's 400-plus towns.
How does Maine compare with New Hampshire? New Hampshire takes nothing on income — $4,128 a year at $85,000. But its property tax is among the highest in the country and Maine's is high too, so the comparison depends on the specific towns rather than on the state line.
What to do next
Maine's rate table understates what a higher earner actually faces. If your income is anywhere near $100,000, the phase-out in section 3 is the number to plan around; if you are retiring, it is the Social Security offset in section 8.
- Maine take-home pay calculator — your salary with every deduction shown separately.
- Your Paycheck in the USA in 2026 — all fifty states on one salary.
- Take-Home Pay in New Hampshire — no income tax, and the property tax that pays for it.
- Marginal vs Effective Tax Rate — the distinction this article turns on.
- 50/30/20 budget calculator — built on take-home rather than salary.
Every figure on this site is sourced and dated. How we source every number.
Figures in this article are illustrations computed by this site's own tax engine for tax year 2026, on a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependents or pre-tax deferrals unless stated. Federal figures come from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and the Social Security Administration; Maine's brackets, deduction and exemption phase-outs, retirement rules and MERIT mandate from this site's sourced 50-state dataset, citing 36 M.R.S. and Maine Revenue Services. The bracket thresholds and shelter amounts are the confirmed figures at the time of writing. Property tax and the Property Tax Fairness Credit are discussed qualitatively rather than computed. This is general education and not tax advice; consult a licensed tax professional for your own situation.