The Maine Heritage Policy Center has released its 2011-2012 “Maine By The Numbers” report to provide a fact-based look at how Maine compares to other states and the District of Columbia in the areas of demographics, economics, health care, welfare, education and tax and fiscal issues.

How does Maine compare? In “Maine By The Numbers,” Maine’s totals and rankings for each entry are compared with the national average, the New England state average, rural peer state average and the highest- and lowest-ranked states.  The compendium indicates where Maine excels and where we fall short.

Readers of “Maine By The Numbers” will see that Maine ranks in the top 10 states for cost of residential electricity; percent of households receiving food stamps; Medicaid spending per capita; and state and local taxes as a percent of personal income.

“Maine By The Numbers” also reveals that Maine’s private sector job growth, at 0.7 percent, has out-performed the New England state average. But Wyoming, a rural peer state, is leading the nation in private sector job growth at more than 22 percent.

And while neighboring New Hampshire ranks first in the nation for private sector share of personal income, Maine ranks a disappointing 41st.

Other select rankings from Maine By The Numbers:

Demographics. Median age 43.4: (Rank No. 1).

Economics. Median household income: $48,032 (Rank No. 30).

Welfare. State reported food stamp error rate: 10.4% (Rank No. 2)

Health Care. Percent under 65 with Medicaid or public coverage: 26% (Rank No. 2).

Education. Spending per K-12 student: $11,644 (Rank No. 12).

Tax/Fiscal. State and local property tax as percent of personal income: 4.6% (Rank No. 6).

Information included in “Maine By The Numbers” was obtained from national and government sources. Although certain rankings are subject to change in light of policy reforms in Maine and other states enacted after printing of the report, the compendium remains an objective view of how Maine compares.

“Maine By The Numbers is an informative tool for policymakers and members of the public advocating reforms to create jobs, grow Maine’s economy, and improve results in important policy areas,” said Chris Cinquemani, director of communications at The Maine Heritage Policy Center. “Lawmakers and others can quickly identify where Maine remains an outlier, and prioritize reforms that will finally bring Maine in line with the rest of the nation.”

See the report at www.mainepolicy.org.

Chris Cinquemani, Director of Communications

207.321.2550 (o), 207.240.7090 (m)

chris@mainepolicy.org <mailto:chris@mainepolicy.org>

The Maine Heritage Policy Center  is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization based in Portland, Maine. The Maine Heritage Policy Center formulates and promotes free-market, conservative public policies in the areas of economic growth; tax and fiscal matters; health care; education; constitutional law and government transparency, providing solutions that will benefit the people of Maine.  Contributions to The Maine Heritage Policy Center are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.