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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in Maine

0 persistent-poverty counties

Maine has 11 nonmetro counties and no counties flagged by USDA ERS for persistent poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 10.8% and child poverty is 13.1%.

0

Persistent-poverty counties

11

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

0

Residents in PPCs

16

Total counties

Maine by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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Maine at a glance

Poverty rate

10.8%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

13.1%

Under 18

PPC share

0.0%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

68.8%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

4.36

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.22

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides Maine's 60 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 16 in Maine.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Washington 0.37
  2. 2 Piscataquis 0.33
  3. 3 Waldo 0.31
  4. 4 Franklin 0.31
  5. 5 Hancock 0.30

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Washington 17.8%
  2. 2 Piscataquis 16.5%
  3. 3 Somerset 15.6%
  4. 4 Aroostook 14.4%
  5. 5 Oxford 14.2%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

Maine has no persistent-poverty counties in the 2025 ERS typology.

Every county in Maine

All 16 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Androscoggin 3 — — 13.0% 19.7% 112,323 0.13
Aroostook 7 — Pop. loss 14.4% 17.1% 67,227 0.28
Cumberland 2 — — 7.1% 7.8% 305,940 0.07
Franklin 8 — — 11.8% 11.8% 30,145 0.31
Hancock 8 — — 10.2% 11.9% 56,084 0.30
Kennebec 4 — — 12.3% 16.1% 125,614 0.16
Knox 7 — — 8.8% 10.0% 40,860 0.26
Lincoln 8 — — 8.5% 11.5% 35,840 0.30
Oxford 6 — — 14.2% 19.4% 58,728 0.24
Penobscot 3 — — 13.5% 14.8% 153,571 0.13
Piscataquis 8 — — 16.5% 15.7% 17,125 0.33
Sagadahoc 2 — Housing 11.1% 12.2% 37,093 0.08
Somerset 6 — — 15.6% 16.8% 50,852 0.25
Waldo 8 — — 12.8% 15.9% 40,006 0.31
Washington 9 — Pop. loss 17.8% 20.1% 31,261 0.37
York 2 — Housing 7.8% 9.6% 214,731 0.07

Find a food pantry in Maine

Search Maine's 60 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

Maine pantry directory

Maine SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

Maine SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

Maine food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology