The Geography of Maine: Why Augusta Captures 96.5% of the State Inside 100 Miles

By SimpleMapLab·Published 13 May 2026·Rank #8 of 50 states·↑ All 50 states

96.5% of Maine’s population — roughly 1.28 M of the state’s 1.33 M residents — lives within 100 miles of Augusta. Maine ranks #8 of 50 states for capital-to-population centrality.

A 100-mile geodesic radius around the Augusta, ME state capitol overlaid on Maine. 96.5% of Maine's population lives inside the dashed ring.

96.5%

of Maine’s population within 100 miles of Augusta

1.28 M

residents inside the radius (of 1.33 M statewide)

3 mi

from Augusta to Maine’s population centroid

of 50 states ranked by capital-to-population centrality

Open this radius in the map → /tools/map-radius-tool · Augusta, ME · 100 mi
The link opens the SimpleMapLab Map Radius Tool with the 100-mile circle already drawn around the Augusta capitol. Change the radius to 50, 250, or any value to compare different framings.

Why this happened

Few US states keep this share of their residents inside their capital's reach. The 100-mile radius around Augusta encloses essentially all of Maine's population centres — including Portland (the largest city inside, with roughly 68K residents) — and extends almost to the population centroid itself. Maine ranks #8 of 50 states for capital-to-population centrality.

The biggest cities inside the 100-mile radius

The top 5 most-populous places (by aggregated ZIP code population) sitting inside the 100-mile circle around Augusta. Cities are listed by total population captured by ZIP centroids in the dataset.

#	City	Population in radius
1	Portland	67,935
2	Bangor	44,854
3	Lewiston	38,324
4	Waterville	27,870
5	South Portland	27,019

The largest city outside the radius

Maine’s most-populous city outside the 100-mile circle is Houlton, sitting 155 miles from Augusta. The aggregated population of Houlton’s ZIP codes alone — 10,106 residents — illustrates the gap between Maine’s political seat and its population centre.

How Maine compares

The states ranked closest to Maine on this metric. Click any to compare the radius breakdown directly.

#7 Massachusetts

Boston · 98.2% pop. captured

#9 New Hampshire

Concord · 95.5% pop. captured

#6 Maryland

Annapolis · 98.4% pop. captured

#10 Utah

Salt Lake City · 88.5% pop. captured

#5 Vermont

Montpelier · 98.6% pop. captured

Draw it yourself

Open the 100-mile circle around Augusta →

The Map Radius Tool lets you change the radius (try 50 mi for an urban-suburban question or 250 mi for “a day’s drive”), drag the centre to compare Augusta’s reach with that of Portland, or add a second circle for a side-by-side comparison.

Methodology (brief)

We took the lat/lng of the Maine state capitol building (44.3106°, -69.7795°) and drew a 100-mile geodesic radius. For every ZIP code in Maine, we tested whether the ZIP centroid falls inside; if so, its population counts. We then divide by Maine’s total population to produce the percentage. The full methodology for all 50 states is on the hub page.

Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). 100 Miles Around Augusta: How Much of Maine Is Inside? Part of the State Capital Radius study. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/studies/state-capital-radius/maine. Licensed under CC-BY 4.0.