• In a rural state with long stretches of road, Mainers fill up more at the pump than anyone else. In November 2004, people here bought more than 2 million gallons of gasoline a day, the highest amount per capita in the U.S., according to the Energy Information Agency.
• Maine’s electricity prices were the 8th highest in the country in 2001, according to that agency.
• Lower-than-average unemployment since 1997 (at last check, Maine’s rate was 4.7 percent vs. 5.4 percent nationally) has made the state an attractive place to move, putting pressure on the affordable housing market, says Christopher St. John at the Maine Center for Economic Policy.
• Housing prices in Maine are outpacing income. From 1999 to 2002, the median sale price for homes rose 34.8 percent to $133,500, according to the Maine State Housing Authority.
• Average annual pay in Maine, tracked by the U.S. Census, rose 10.5 percent to $29,736. In New England, only pay in Connecticut grew less.
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