Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,178
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$5,132
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,990
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$32,310
Kept after tax
$27,178
Worth in national money
$27,990
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $32,310, ranking 38 of 51 states — about 9.42% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Maine, this one sits low: 483 of 484 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $32,310 the take-home is $27,178, which is worth about $27,990 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $34,700, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maine ranks 38 of 51 for automotive and watercraft service attendants, with a median of $32,310 — about 9.42% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Automotive and watercraft service attendants occupies position 483 of 484 in Maine'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.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for automotive and watercraft service attendants on its $32,310 median: $27,178 retained after tax becomes $27,990 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $34,700 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $40,790 |
| This salary | $32,310 |
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 Maine | $27,178 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,141 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$969 |
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 | $31,111 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,172 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $32,310 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,470 and the ninetieth is $40,790 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Maine the take-home figure of $27,178, from $32,310, 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 483 of 484 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,990 uses one figure for the whole of Maine. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 484 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 483.
- The Maine median of $32,310 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,470 to $40,790. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Maine is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $27,178 from $32,310. 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 483 of 484 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,990, worked from $32,310, 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 Maine address, on work sitting at 483 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $34,700, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,470 at the tenth percentile, $40,790 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Maine sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $27,990 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Maine adds its own income tax on top — which is why $27,178 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Maine is $34,700. 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 ($30,470 to $40,790) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine'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 $27,990 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 $27,178 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine 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.