Moving to Minnesota from Maine
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Maine to Minnesota — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Maine to Minnesota, you would find that Minnesota is 11.0% cheaper than Maine. A $75,000 salary in Maine would need to be roughly $66,700 in Minnesota to maintain the same lifestyle. Portland and Minneapolis are about 1,150 mi apart.
Is Minnesota cheaper than Maine?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 4.9% less
Groceries
pay 14.5% less
Transportation
pay 16.2% more
Housing
pay 18.4% less
Childcare
pay 36.4% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 6.5% more
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 Minnesota?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $66,700
To maintain the same standard of living in Minnesota
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 Minnesota cost about 3% less than cities in Maine.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Maine and Minnesota stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Maine performs better than Minnesota 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 generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Minnesota leads in uninsured rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Maine performs better than Minnesota across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Minnesota performs significantly 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
Minnesota 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
Minnesota performs significantly better than Maine 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 Minnesota vs Maine
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Portland | Minneapolis |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 36°/18°F (2°/-8°C) | 31°/15°F (0°/-10°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 63°/44°F (17°/7°C) | 69°/48°F (20°/9°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 76°/56°F (24°/13°C) | 78°/59°F (26°/15°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 48°/30°F (9°/-1°C) | 42°/26°F (6°/-3°C) |
View all months
| Month | Portland | Minneapolis |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31°/13°F (-0.4°/-10.3°C) | 24°/8°F (-4.6°/-13.6°C) |
| Feb | 35°/16°F (1.4°/-8.7°C) | 29°/13°F (-1.7°/-10.7°C) |
| Mar | 42°/25°F (5.6°/-3.9°C) | 41°/24°F (5.2°/-4.3°C) |
| Apr | 53°/35°F (11.8°/1.5°C) | 58°/37°F (14.3°/2.9°C) |
| May | 64°/44°F (17.5°/6.8°C) | 69°/49°F (20.8°/9.4°C) |
| Jun | 73°/54°F (22.9°/12.0°C) | 79°/59°F (26.0°/14.9°C) |
| Jul | 79°/59°F (26.0°/15.2°C) | 83°/64°F (28.6°/17.8°C) |
| Aug | 78°/58°F (25.4°/14.6°C) | 80°/62°F (26.9°/16.6°C) |
| Sep | 70°/50°F (21.1°/10.2°C) | 72°/52°F (22.1°/11.3°C) |
| Oct | 59°/39°F (14.8°/3.8°C) | 58°/40°F (14.4°/4.3°C) |
| Nov | 48°/31°F (8.9°/-0.6°C) | 41°/26°F (5.1°/-3.2°C) |
| Dec | 37°/20°F (2.9°/-6.4°C) | 27°/12°F (-2.7°/-10.9°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Minnesota than Maine?
Generally yes: Minnesota runs about 11% cheaper than Maine on average, though it depends heavily on the city.
How much money do I need to move to Minnesota?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $16,675 in Minnesota for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Minnesota safe?
Maine performs better than Minnesota across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Minnesota compared to Maine?
Maine generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Minnesota leads in uninsured rate.
What's the weather like in Minnesota compared to Maine?
The average high temperature in Minneapolis is 55°F, compared to 56°F in Portland. Minneapolis receives around 30.6 in of rainfall per year, while Portland gets 47.2 in.
