How much do dentists make in Maine? The 2025 numbers, and what they buy

Short version: general dentists in Maine earn more on average than dentists in Massachusetts or the US as a whole, and a house in most of Maine costs half of what it costs around Boston. The longer version has some caveats worth knowing before you move.

What the federal data says

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by state and metro area every spring. These are the May 2025 figures for "Dentists, General" (occupation code 29-1021), the newest available.

• United States: mean $191,350, median $170,950.
• Maine: mean $237,360, median $209,200.
• Massachusetts: mean $223,200, median $181,600.
• Portland–South Portland, ME: mean $261,230, median $221,190.
• Bangor, ME: mean $206,470, median $204,780.
• Boston–Cambridge–Newton: mean $220,730, median $181,150.

So Maine's median is about 22% above the national median and about 15% above Massachusetts. Portland's median beats Boston's by roughly $40,000.

Two caveats, because the honest version matters

The sample is small. BLS counts about 310 salaried general dentists in Maine and about 50 in the Bangor area. Small samples move around from year to year, so treat the gap as real but don't bank on the exact dollar.

It counts employees, not owners. The survey covers wage-and-salary jobs. Dentists who own their practice aren't in it, and owners generally earn more. The American Dental Association's own survey put average net income for general dentists at $215,320 in 2025 nationally, with owners well ahead of non-owners. Maine has an unusually high share of owner-operated practices, which is part of why associates here get offered a partnership path so often.

Why the pay is higher

Supply and demand. Maine has 53.3 dentists per 100,000 residents against 59.5 nationally and 78.2 in Massachusetts, and 84 federally designated dental shortage areas covering about 242,000 people. Practices compete for associates. We wrote up the shortage in detail if you want the sources.

What the money has to cover

Pay is only half the equation. These are 2025 figures.

Housing. The statewide median sale price for a single-family home in Maine was $405,000 in 2025. By county: Cumberland (Portland) $590,000, Androscoggin (Lewiston–Auburn) $349,999, Penobscot (Bangor) $285,000, Aroostook $168,000. Boston's median sale price over the same period was about $746,000. A dentist earning the Bangor median and buying the Penobscot median is spending about 1.4 years of pay on a house. The Boston equivalent is over four.

Income tax. Maine's 2025 rates are 5.8%, 6.75% and 7.15%, with the top bracket starting at $63,450 for a single filer and $126,900 for a couple. From 2026 there is an extra 2% on income over $1 million, which won't touch an associate's pay but is worth knowing if you're buying a practice later. Massachusetts is a flat 5% with a 4% surtax over $1 million; New Hampshire has no earned-income tax but much higher property taxes.

Sales tax. 5.5% statewide, no local add-ons, and grocery staples are exempt. Prepared food is 8% and lodging 9%.

Property tax. About 0.98% effective on an owner-occupied home, mid-pack nationally. Maine towns fund themselves mostly through property tax, so rates vary a lot town to town. Ask before you buy.

The rough math

Take a dentist at the Maine median, $209,200, buying a $350,000 house in Androscoggin County. Compare a dentist at the Massachusetts median, $181,600, buying a $746,000 house in Boston. Before any tax difference, the Maine dentist earns $27,600 more a year and carries roughly $400,000 less mortgage. Over a 30-year loan at today's rates, that's a difference measured in the hundreds of thousands, not the tens.

That's the whole pitch. It's also why we tell dentists to look at the offer and the house together, not the salary alone.

What we'd add from the phone calls

Associates in Maine are more often offered a guarantee against a percentage of collections, and the percentage tends to sit in the 30 to 35% range that the dental trade press describes as standard. We've written how to read those offers. When a practice sends an offer through us, we put it next to the numbers above before you see it.