Maine Zombie Survival Index: 87/100

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The three tests

Maine scored three times

A state that handles shamblers can get erased by sprinters. Here is how Maine performs under each outbreak model.

Walking DeadThe Walking Dead

94

Slow zombies reward distance, terrain, food and water. Maine has about 1,414,874 people and 1.2 million acres in farm operations, with 73,000 cattle and calves alongside major potato, dairy, blueberry, maple and seafood production. Survival here comes down to how quickly you leave the southern corridor and reach the places where those resources overlap with defensible ground.

World War ZWorld War Z

89

Fast zombies remove the luxury of waiting. Excellent terrain twenty miles north is worthless if the route there stops moving. Maine scores unusually well on this test: there is very little population to jam the roads, and the interior swallows survivors quickly once they commit.

Last of UsThe Last of Us

79

Yes, we know they're not technically zombies. This asks whether a community still works after modern supply chains stop. Maine has water, timber, game and fisheries in abundance — but the farm base is productive capacity, not a warehouse, and that difference is what costs it here.

What helps

Forests, mountains, lakes, rivers, rocky coastline and a vast sparsely populated northern interior
Thousands of lakes and ponds, major river systems, groundwater and high precipitation
1.2 million acres in farm operations across roughly 6,900 farms
73,000 cattle and calves
Major potato, dairy, hay, blueberry, maple and seafood production
5,031 MW of net summer capacity in 2024, with hydro, wind, biomass and natural gas all important
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, the Maine National Guard and regional Coast Guard assets

What hurts

Limited agricultural scale relative to the farm-belt states
Winter storms, extreme cold, ice, coastal storms, flooding and wildfire
Rural safety can mean much longer medical and repair distances
Few routes mean each road carries more weight when evacuation begins late

Stay away from Portland and the southern corridor, then favour north-central or interior communities with freshwater, wood heat, local farms, fishing and hunting access, and enough year-round infrastructure to survive winter.

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The reason for the score

Maine's zombie superpowers

Forests, mountains, lakes, rivers, rocky coastline and a vast sparsely populated northern interior define movement, observation, escape and settlement options. A strong refuge requires more than remoteness — it needs water plus food plus energy plus defensible geography plus usable access.

1 · Remoteness

Maine has genuine distance from giant metros the moment you leave the south.

2 · Freshwater

Lakes, ponds, rivers and groundwater are everywhere, and precipitation keeps them topped up.

3 · Winter

Cold is one of Maine's strongest defensive advantages against infected movement.

4 · Forests and fisheries

Timber, game, freshwater fish and coastal resources make the natural-resource base unusually resilient.

The catch

Food scale, winter and distance

Food scale

Maine can feed communities, but it does not begin with the agricultural surplus of Iowa or Nebraska.

Winter logistics

Fuel, heat, snow removal and shelter maintenance are life-support functions, not chores.

Medical access

The farther north you go for safety, the farther you go from advanced care.

The framework

25 survival factors, scored 1–10

Every state is measured on the same 25 factors. Weighting shifts by scenario — terrain matters more against sprinters, agriculture matters more in a long collapse.

01 Population density Very low density 10/10

02 Major city exposure Only modest metro concentration 9/10

03 Road escape capacity Road network is sparse but manageable 7/10

04 Freshwater availability Exceptional lakes, rivers and groundwater 10/10

05 Agricultural capacity 1.2 million farm acres 6/10

06 Food self-sufficiency Useful potatoes, dairy and specialty crops but limited scale 7/10

07 Wilderness & remote land Exceptional remote forest land 10/10

08 Natural defensive terrain Mountains, forests, lakes and coast create strong terrain 9/10

09 Climate survivability Cold climate is demanding 6/10

10 Winter zombie suppression Elite winter suppression 10/10

11 Natural disaster risk Winter storms, coastal storms and flooding 6/10

12 Energy production Moderate diversified generation 7/10

13 Off-grid energy potential Hydro, wind and biomass are strong off-grid complements 8/10

14 Medical resources Limited advanced medicine outside southern Maine 6/10

15 Military & Guard presence Shipyard, Guard and Coast Guard presence 6/10

16 Emergency management Strong winter and coastal emergency experience 8/10

17 Supply & logistics Long logistics lines are a weakness 5/10

18 Infrastructure vulnerability Remote communities depend on fuel and transport 6/10

19 Survival resource availability Water, timber, fisheries and wildlife are excellent 9/10

20 Evacuation & refuge potential Elite refuge potential 10/10

21 Natural barriers & water access Lakes, rivers and coastline create barriers 10/10

22 Distance from population centers Large areas far from major cities 10/10

23 Chokepoint & bridge dependency Few routes mean each road matters 8/10

24 Hunting, fishing & foraging Elite hunting, fishing and foraging 10/10

25 Long-term settlement potential Strong if food and winter logistics are solved 8/10

Tactics

What works, by scenario

Strategy	Walking Dead	World War Z	Last of Us
Rural farm or ranch with independent water	Excellent	Very good if reached early	Excellent
Small agricultural town	Very good	Good	Excellent
Remote site with no food system	Good early	Very good for isolation	Poor long-term
Major highway evacuation	Good early, bad late	Terrible late	Poor after collapse
Major metro shelter	Poor	Terrible	Poor
Distributed renewable power	Very good	Good	Excellent
Hunting and fishing supplement	Very good	Good	Very good
One-road refuge	Risky	Risky	Risky

Geography

Where to be

Best overall

North-central Maine

Forests, lakes, low density and access to small towns create a strong balance.

Freshwater in every direction
Timber and wood heat on site
Small towns still functioning
Enormous distance from any metro

Runner-up

Western Maine mountain communities

Terrain and water are excellent, but roads and winter access matter.

Third

Interior Downeast away from the coast

Fishing, forest and low density, with coastal storm exposure reduced inland.

Where not to be

Avoid early

Portland and the southern Maine corridor

The state's largest concentration and its closest connection to Boston spillover.

Avoid

Deep remote site without winter fuel

Distance is not warmth.

Avoid

Low coastal property during major storms

The ocean is not always on your side.

Verdict

87 out of 100 · Grade B+ · Rank #10

Maine is excellent zombie-survival territory for groups that can handle winter. It has a small population, vast forests, thousands of lakes and rivers, productive fisheries, rugged coastline, hunting resources, and remote communities far from major urban corridors. The catch is a short growing season, severe cold, difficult travel, limited large-scale agriculture, scattered medical services, and dependence on imported fuel and supplies that may not reach isolated communities after infrastructure fails.

Walking Dead 94. World War Z 89. Last of Us 79.

Stay away from Portland and the southern corridor, then favour north-central or interior communities with freshwater, wood heat, local farms, fishing and hunting access, and enough year-round infrastructure to survive winter.

See the national survey board

Method & sources

Where the numbers come from

The Zombie Survival Index is a fictional entertainment ranking that uses real public data as its inputs. Every state is scored on the same 25 factors under three outbreak models, and the overall number blends those results. All fifty states have been assessed and normalised against the same national scoring set.

U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Population Estimates and QuickFacts
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2025 State Agriculture Overview
U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Electricity Profile
State water-resource and environmental agencies
State emergency-management agencies
U.S. Department of Defense and National Guard installation sources
State wildlife, hunting and fishing agencies
NOAA and state climatology and hazard sources