Live in Maine, work in Massachusetts
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Massachusetts takes
$2,680
on wages earned there
Maine takes
$50
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,730
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
credit covers itMaine charges more, so its credit covers everything Massachusetts takes. Both states collect; your total does not change. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Maine bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Good news for this route. Working in Massachusetts costs you nothing extra, because Maine charges more than Massachusetts does and gives you credit for everything Massachusetts takes. Your year comes to $2,730, the same as if you never left Maine for work. What changes is the paperwork, not the money — two states will want a return from you.
- Maine is one of 7 states sending this many workers into Massachusetts, and it sits at number 5 of them, with 8,398 jobs. States used to handling out-of-state workers usually make the filing side of it straightforward.
- Both states tax these wages and the commuter pays no more than they would have at home. Massachusetts takes its non-resident share first — $2,680 at the reference salary — and Maine, whose own liability on the same income is the larger of the two, credits that amount in full and collects the balance. The total is $2,730, identical to what an earner living and working in Maine would owe. ⚠️ The money is split between two treasuries rather than reduced, which matters at filing time: two state returns, not one.
- Massachusetts draws commuters of this scale from 7 states, and Maine ranks number 5 among them with 8,398 jobs. A work state pulling from that many directions tends to have a well-established non-resident filing routine, which is a practical convenience rather than a tax saving.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$3,742
- Yours$57,850
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4.99% | $3,742 |
| Yours77.13% | $57,850 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| Massachusetts takes, on wages earned there | $2,680 |
|---|---|
| Maine charges its residents | $2,730 |
| Less the credit Maine gives | $2,680 |
| Total state tax | $2,730 |
| If you also worked in Maine | $2,730 |
| Difference | $0 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- One thing this page leaves out: city taxes. Some cities charge their own tax on people who work there, and it sits on top of everything above. Philadelphia is the well-known one. New York City only charges its own residents, so commuting in adds nothing. Check whether the city you work in is one that charges, because the Massachusetts state figure is not the whole story if it does.
- These numbers assume the job in Massachusetts is your only income, and that you actually go there to work. Both matter. If you earn money in more than one state, the credit Maine gives is worked out as a share rather than the simple cap used here. And if you work from home some days, some states have rules that treat those days as worked at the office anyway.
- The dollars rest on one assumed salary of sixty thousand. Double your pay and they do not simply double, because both states charge more on higher slices of income. What tends to stay put is which side of the Maine and Massachusetts comparison you are on.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether Massachusetts or Maine carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Massachusetts and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Maine limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Massachusetts portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Massachusetts rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Maine to Massachusetts comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in Massachusetts's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Maine and Massachusetts?
Both states tax the same wages, and then one of them backs off. Massachusetts taxes what you earn inside it. Maine taxes you on everything, then subtracts what Massachusetts already took, up to the size of its own bill. You end up paying the larger of the two, which is $2,730 a year on this route.
Does working in Massachusetts cost me anything extra?
No. The state line is real on a map and invisible on your pay stub here. Your total is $2,730 either way. Keep the paperwork in mind though: crossing a line usually means filing twice even when it changes nothing.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Maine and Massachusetts?
Usually yes, and it catches people out. Maine wants a return because you live there. Massachusetts usually wants one too, because you earned money inside it — even in the cases where you end up owing it nothing. Filing in a state and paying it are separate things, and the return is often what proves you do not owe.
What if I work from home in Maine some days instead of going to Massachusetts?
Normally, days worked at home in Maine belong to Maine, and only the days you spend in Massachusetts are taxed there. That is the ordinary rule. The exception is real though: some states count your remote days as worked at the employer's location anyway. That flips the answer completely, so check Massachusetts's rule rather than assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Massachusetts on a source basis, Maine on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $2,730 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Why is the marginal state-tax cost of this crossing zero?
Marginal cost is zero because the binding liability is the residence state's. Maine's own charge on this income equals or exceeds Massachusetts's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $2,730. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in Massachusetts.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Maine requires a resident return reporting all income; Massachusetts requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Maine fall outside Massachusetts's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in Massachusetts throughout.