Maine’s Largest Landowner Isn’t an Actual Person

Our Pine Tree State is pretty big, but who owns the most land? Well, it's not one individual person, that's for sure.

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When we say that Maine is big, we're not kidding.

Maine is the largest state in New England by total area, and according to Maine.gov, our state has a total area of approximately 33,215 square miles. That's over triple the size of the next largest state in our region, with Massachusetts having approximately 10,554 square miles.

While Massachusetts dwarfs Maine in regards to population, there’s no question, we've got the size. Although, rumor has it that size doesn’t necessarily matter.

But with all of the land that our state has to offer, who owns the biggest slice of the pie?

World Population Review released a report on the 'Largest Landowners by State 2024,' documenting and explaining each state’s largest landowner, and Maine’s is a big surprise.

Instead of our largest landowner being a famous actor, author, singer, or powerful politician, our largest landowner is a corporation.

According to World Population Review, Maine’s largest landowner is the forestry, transportation, shipbuilding, and consumer products company, J.D. Irving. J.D. Irving is the only industrial landowner with over a million acres owned in the state, with roughly 1.25 million acres.

With 980,000 acres owned throughout the state, billionaire businessman John Malone, the second-largest landowner in the U.S., owns the second-most amount of land in Maine.

Additionally, the United States has about 60% of its land privately owned, with a few individuals and families controlling a significant portion. Among the largest landowners are the Emmerson Family, who lead with 2.3 million acres across the Pacific Northwest.

If you knew this, great! If not, hey, you learn something new every day!