Moving to Maine from Kansas
What to Expect
Considering a move from Kansas to Maine? Here's how the two compare on cost, climate, safety, and more.
If you moved from Kansas to Maine, you would find that Maine is 20.7% more expensive than Kansas. A $75,000 salary in Kansas would need to be roughly $90,500 in Maine to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Portland averages 56°F vs 68°F in Wichita, making it significantly cooler. Wichita and Portland are about 1,450 mi apart.
Is Maine cheaper than Kansas?
How key spending categories compare
Restaurants
pay 15.8% more
Groceries
pay 14.4% more
Transportation
pay 3.6% more
Housing
pay 29.1% more
Childcare
pay 2.1 times more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 0.5% less
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Maine?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $90,500
To maintain the same standard of living in Maine
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in Maine cost about 14% more than cities in Kansas.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
The numbers behind daily life in Maine compared to Kansas.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Maine performs significantly better than Kansas across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Maine performs significantly better than Kansas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Kansas generally does better on what about housing?, though Maine leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Kansas performs better than Maine across all infrastructure metrics.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Kansas generally does better on employment & economy, though Maine leads in unemployment rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Maine performs significantly better than Kansas across all family life metrics.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in Maine vs Kansas
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Wichita | Portland |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 49°/28°F (10°/-2°C) | 36°/18°F (2°/-8°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 77°/55°F (25°/13°C) | 63°/44°F (17°/7°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 89°/66°F (32°/19°C) | 76°/56°F (24°/13°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 57°/35°F (14°/2°C) | 48°/30°F (9°/-1°C) |
View all months
| Month | Wichita | Portland |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42°/22°F (5.8°/-5.6°C) | 31°/13°F (-0.4°/-10.3°C) |
| Feb | 48°/26°F (9.0°/-3.3°C) | 35°/16°F (1.4°/-8.7°C) |
| Mar | 58°/35°F (14.4°/1.7°C) | 42°/25°F (5.6°/-3.9°C) |
| Apr | 68°/44°F (19.8°/6.9°C) | 53°/35°F (11.8°/1.5°C) |
| May | 77°/55°F (24.8°/12.9°C) | 64°/44°F (17.5°/6.8°C) |
| Jun | 87°/65°F (30.4°/18.3°C) | 73°/54°F (22.9°/12.0°C) |
| Jul | 92°/70°F (33.5°/21.0°C) | 79°/59°F (26.0°/15.2°C) |
| Aug | 91°/69°F (32.9°/20.4°C) | 78°/58°F (25.4°/14.6°C) |
| Sep | 83°/60°F (28.1°/15.3°C) | 70°/50°F (21.1°/10.2°C) |
| Oct | 70°/47°F (20.9°/8.3°C) | 59°/39°F (14.8°/3.8°C) |
| Nov | 56°/35°F (13.4°/1.4°C) | 48°/31°F (8.9°/-0.6°C) |
| Dec | 44°/24°F (6.4°/-4.4°C) | 37°/20°F (2.9°/-6.4°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Maine than Kansas?
On average Maine is around 21% pricier than Kansas, with notable variation by city.
How much money do I need to move to Maine?
Budget about $22,625 for 3 months in Maine (based on a $75,000 comparable annual salary), then add the one-off costs: movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Maine safe?
Maine performs significantly better than Kansas across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Maine compared to Kansas?
Maine performs significantly better than Kansas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Maine compared to Kansas?
The average high temperature in Portland is 56°F, compared to 68°F in Wichita. Portland receives around 47.2 in of rainfall per year, while Wichita gets 32.6 in.
