Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,642
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$10,268
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,496
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
$55,910
Kept after tax
$45,642
Worth in national money
$50,496
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in New Mexico. The middle earner gets $55,910. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 9.49% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 240 among 485 occupations New Mexico publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $55,910 you keep $45,642 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $50,496 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $59,650, since top earners drag the number up.
- For bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists, New Mexico sits in the lower band at $55,910, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 9.49%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 240 of 485 in New Mexico places bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $45,642 after the full tax stack, from $55,910. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $50,496 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $59,650 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,260 |
| This salary | $55,910 |
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 | $45,642 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,104 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,023 |
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 | $54,090 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,447 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $55,910 as a midpoint for New Mexico, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,860 and the ninetieth is $83,260 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In New Mexico the take-home figure of $45,642, from $55,910, 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 240 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 $50,496 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 240.
- The New Mexico median of $55,910 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,860 to $83,260. 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 New Mexico is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $45,642 from $55,910. 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 240 of 485 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,496, worked from $55,910, 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 240 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $59,650, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,860 and the top tenth $83,260 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $50,496 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, $45,642 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 $59,650. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($37,860) and the ninetieth ($83,260) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $50,496 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 $45,642 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.