Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,427
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$19,013
22.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$72,386
New Mexico costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Mexico — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$84,440
Kept after tax
$65,427
Worth in national money
$72,386
State rank
11
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. New Mexico's middle earner gets $84,440, putting the state 11 of 50 — about 5.72% ahead of the national figure.
- Within New Mexico this is well-paid work. Of 485 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 97 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $84,440 you keep $65,427 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $72,386 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $81,630.
- For aircraft mechanics and service technicians, New Mexico sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $84,440, ranking 11 of 50 and running about 5.72% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Ranked against every occupation New Mexico publishes a median for, aircraft mechanics and service technicians sits 97 of 485 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $65,427 after the full tax stack, from $84,440. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $72,386 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $81,630 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $84,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,020 |
| This salary | $84,440 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in New Mexico | $65,427 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $68,234 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,169 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $80,450 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,996 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New Mexico earn less than $84,440. The published range is $49,690 up to $99,020, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In New Mexico the take-home figure of $65,427, from $84,440, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 97 of 485 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $72,386 uses one figure for the whole of New Mexico. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 485 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 97.
- Reported values are medians; for aircraft mechanics and service technicians in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,690 to $99,020. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for New Mexico is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $65,427 from $84,440. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 97 of 485 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $72,386, worked from $84,440, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular New Mexico address, on work sitting at 97 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $81,630 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $49,690 and the top tenth $99,020, so most people doing this work in New Mexico sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $72,386.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and New Mexico adds its own income tax on top — which is why $65,427 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in New Mexico is $81,630. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($49,690 to $99,020) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New Mexico rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
New Mexico's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $72,386 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $65,427 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New Mexico income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.