Black Mainers are less likely to own a business than white residents, and those who do report earning substantially less money than white peers, according to publicly available data.
While this is consistent with national trends, a lack of detailed, up-to-date statistics hampers deep, state-level analysis. Researchers and advocates say more information is needed to understand the situation in Maine — and take steps to reduce disparities.
“The Census Bureau withholds a lot of the data for small groups, which unfortunately means not much data for Black communities,” said James Myall, a policy analyst at the Maine Center for Economic Policy.