Amusement and Recreation Attendants in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,286
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$3,874
13.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,975
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
$29,160
Kept after tax
$25,286
Worth in national money
$27,975
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $29,160, ranking 30 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in New Mexico, this one sits low: 477 of 485 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $29,160 you keep $25,286 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $27,975 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $30,990, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Mexico occupies the middle band for amusement and recreation attendants: a median of $29,160, ranking 30 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Amusement and recreation attendants occupies position 477 of 485 in New Mexico's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $25,286 after the full tax stack, from $29,160. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $27,975 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $30,990 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Amusement and Recreation Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,450 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,670 |
| This salary | $29,160 |
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 | $25,286 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,610 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,621 |
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 | $28,756 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,960 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $29,160 as a midpoint for New Mexico, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $26,450 and the ninetieth is $38,670 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Mexico's $25,286, worked from $29,160. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 477 of 485.
- Two cautions on $27,975, the adjusted value of that $29,160 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New Mexico. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 477 of 485 locally.
- The New Mexico median of $29,160 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $26,450 to $38,670. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The New Mexico take-home of $25,286, on $29,160 for work ranking 477 of 485 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 477 of 485 in the state.
- This $27,975 adjusted figure, worked from $29,160, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 477 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 477 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 $30,990 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $26,450 at the bottom tenth to $38,670 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. New Mexico is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $27,975 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and New Mexico's own levy, $25,286 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $30,990. 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 ($26,450 to $38,670) 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 $27,975 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 $25,286 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.