Maine covers 30,843 square miles, with a 2019 estimated population of 1,344,212 people – with 545,287 people living in rural Maine (USDA-ERS). Augusta is the state capital. The state's largest cities are Portland, Lewiston and Bangor. According to 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 94.4% of the state's population is white, 1.7% is African-American, 1.3% is Asian, 0.7% is American Indian or Alaska Native, and 1.8% is of Hispanic or Latino origin.

Maine Rural Healthcare Facilities

According to data.HRSA.gov, as of April 2021 Maine had:

• 16 Critical Access Hospitals
• 38 Rural Health Clinics
• 84 Federally Qualified Health Center sites located outside of Urbanized Areas
• 9 short term hospitals located outside of Urbanized Areas

Selected Social Determinants of Health for Rural Maine

8.1% of Maine residents lack health insurance (Kaiser, 2019). According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the average per capita income for Maine residents in 2019 was $50,634, with the rural per capita income at $44,997. The ERS reports, based on 2019 ACS data, that the poverty rate in rural Maine is 13.5%, compared with 9.1% in urban areas of the state. 8.4% of the rural population has not completed high school, while 6.7% of the urban population lacks a high school diploma according to 2015-2019 ACS data reported by ERS. The unemployment rate in rural Maine is 3.6%, while in urban Maine it is 2.7% (USDA-ERS, 2019).

Maine Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
Phone: 207.287.5524
Manages health personnel recruitment and retention programs and provides technical assistance for communities to receive grants that benefit health care and rural areas; facilitates communication on rural health issues among providers, consumers and government programs.
view details