Most of the tech jobs paid like shit compared to national competition though. Unum, Tyler Tech, Idexx, Delorme all paid worse than similar jobs in other states. The pay was good for Maine but it's a hard sell when you can move and get a 30% bump with the same skills. It's got a bit better as they realized they had to compete with out of state hiring, but it's still not great.

This is pretty true, I had a decent job doing sysadmin stuff before I left Maine and I would throw out apps for other jobs and would land interviews but even with a decent paycheck, the housing is just too unreasonable.