Moving to Maine from Utah
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Utah to Maine — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Utah to Maine, you would find that Maine is 10.7% more expensive than Utah. A $75,000 salary in Utah would need to be roughly $83,100 in Maine to maintain the same lifestyle. Salt Lake City and Portland are about 2,100 mi apart.
Is Maine cheaper than Utah?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 15.4% more
Groceries
pay 28.9% more
Transportation
pay 21.1% less
Housing
pay 9.9% more
Childcare
pay 69.1% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 6.9% 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 Maine?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $83,100
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 6% more than cities in Utah.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Utah and Maine 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 significantly better than Utah 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
Utah generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Maine 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 significantly better than Utah across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Utah 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
Utah 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
Utah generally does better on family life, though Maine leads in bachelor's degree or higher.
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 Utah
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Salt Lake City | Portland |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 45°/27°F (7°/-3°C) | 36°/18°F (2°/-8°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 72°/48°F (22°/9°C) | 63°/44°F (17°/7°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 87°/60°F (31°/16°C) | 76°/56°F (24°/13°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 51°/32°F (10°/0°C) | 48°/30°F (9°/-1°C) |
View all months
| Month | Salt Lake City | Portland |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37°/22°F (3.0°/-5.8°C) | 31°/13°F (-0.4°/-10.3°C) |
| Feb | 43°/25°F (6.2°/-3.8°C) | 35°/16°F (1.4°/-8.7°C) |
| Mar | 54°/34°F (12.1°/0.9°C) | 42°/25°F (5.6°/-3.9°C) |
| Apr | 62°/40°F (16.4°/4.2°C) | 53°/35°F (11.8°/1.5°C) |
| May | 72°/48°F (22.2°/8.8°C) | 64°/44°F (17.5°/6.8°C) |
| Jun | 83°/56°F (28.3°/13.6°C) | 73°/54°F (22.9°/12.0°C) |
| Jul | 93°/65°F (33.7°/18.2°C) | 79°/59°F (26.0°/15.2°C) |
| Aug | 90°/63°F (32.5°/17.4°C) | 78°/58°F (25.4°/14.6°C) |
| Sep | 79°/53°F (26.2°/11.7°C) | 70°/50°F (21.1°/10.2°C) |
| Oct | 65°/41°F (18.2°/5.2°C) | 59°/39°F (14.8°/3.8°C) |
| Nov | 49°/31°F (9.7°/-0.8°C) | 48°/31°F (8.9°/-0.6°C) |
| Dec | 38°/23°F (3.3°/-5.2°C) | 37°/20°F (2.9°/-6.4°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Maine than Utah?
Day-to-day costs in Maine run about 11% higher than Utah on average; specific cities can swing further.
How much money do I need to move to Maine?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $20,775 in Maine for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Maine safe?
Maine performs significantly better than Utah across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Maine compared to Utah?
Utah generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Maine leads in uninsured rate.
What's the weather like in Maine compared to Utah?
The average high temperature in Portland is 56°F, compared to 64°F in Salt Lake City. Portland receives around 47.2 in of rainfall per year, while Salt Lake City gets 16.1 in.
