WalletHub Ranks Maine Among Least Diverse and Top for Women's Equality

Personal finance website WalletHub released two annual reports on September 16, 2026, providing contrasting rankings for Maine across diversity and gender equality metrics.

In its 2026 Most and Least Diverse States in America report, WalletHub ranked Maine as the 49th most diverse state, making it the second-least diverse in the country, ahead only of West Virginia. The ranking used a 100-point system across six categories, including socioeconomic, economic, cultural, religious, political, and household diversity. Maine ranked 49th in both racial/ethnic and religious diversity and 45th in linguistic diversity. Its strongest performances were in political diversity, where it ranked 8th, as well as worker-class diversity (15th) and income diversity (19th). Other Northern New England states also ranked poorly, with Vermont finishing 47th and New Hampshire 48th.

Conversely, WalletHub's ranking of women's equality placed Maine fourth overall in the nation with a score of 70.09. This evaluation focused on workplace environment, education and health, and political empowerment. Maine performed strongest in political empowerment, ranking third, and seventh in workplace environment, though it ranked 18th in education and health. Hawaii, Maryland, and Alaska took the top three spots in the equality report.

While USAFacts.org reported that Maine's non-white population has grown by 2% since 2010, the state remains among the least diverse in the U.S., trailing states like California, Texas, New Mexico, Florida, and Nevada.