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Section 8 rent versus market rent in Maine

The largest 2-bedroom voucher premium in Maine is +$597 in Piscataquis County.

HUD FY2026 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent and Census median gross rent for each county.

Largest premium
+$597
Piscataquis County
2-bedroom FMR
$1,419
FY2026
Census rent
$822
B25031
Counties
16
Maine

Counties in Maine

126Piscataquis County$1,419$822$170B25031+$597
264Washington County$1,252$783$98B25031+$469
273Androscoggin County$1,586$1,124$32B25031+$462
287Sagadahoc County$1,577$1,121$84B25031+$456
314Waldo County$1,438$998$129B25031+$440
328Penobscot County$1,559$1,126$30B25031+$433
335York County$1,873$1,445$76B25031+$428
404Lincoln County$1,403$1,007$74B25031+$396
407Oxford County$1,295$900$78B25031+$395
464Aroostook County$1,224$850$27B25031+$374
477Hancock County$1,501$1,131$98B25031+$370
479Franklin County$1,322$953$40B25031+$369
549Cumberland County$2,082$1,741$48B25031+$341
638Somerset County$1,266$949$70B25031+$317
647Kennebec County$1,416$1,102$37B25031+$314
778Knox County$1,526$1,242$114B25031+$284

Method

The voucher premium is the FY2026 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent minus the Census median gross rent for the same county. The Census rent is ACS 2024 5-year table B25031, 2-bedroom median (column B25031004), when that estimate is published and positive. Otherwise it is ACS table B25064, median gross rent. The margin of error on the premium is the ACS margin of error on that rent, because the Fair Market Rent is a HUD schedule. Other bedroom rows use B25031 when that bedroom median is published. When a county file has town Fair Market Rents and no single county schedule, the county rent is the population-weighted mean of the town rents, rounded half up. The Small Area FMR range is the low and high ZIP Small Area FMR inside the county. Rank is the premium, then the county name. A county is left out when both the 2-bedroom B25031 median and the B25064 median are missing or not positive.

Source: HUD FY2026 Fair Market Rents and Small Area FMRs, effective 2025-10-01, retrieved 2026-10-09, https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html, and U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2024 5-year tables B25031 and B25064, as of 2024-07-01 (data years 2020-2024), retrieved 2026-10-09, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25031.

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest 2-bedroom voucher premium in Maine?

Piscataquis County at +$597. The FY2026 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent is $1,419. The Census median gross rent is $822 (margin of error $170), from B25031.