Carpenters in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,524
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$11,196
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,685
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
$59,720
Kept after tax
$48,524
Worth in national money
$53,685
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. New Mexico pays carpenters around $59,720 at the midpoint, 25 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations New Mexico reports figures for, this is number 216.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $59,720 you keep $48,524 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $53,685 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $57,430.
- For carpenters the New Mexico median is $59,720, ranking 25 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In New Mexico's occupational distribution, carpenters sits at 216 of 485 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $48,524 after the full tax stack, from $59,720. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $53,685 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $57,430 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,790 |
| This salary | $59,720 |
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 | $48,524 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,165 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,062 |
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 | $57,678 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,494 |
| 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 $59,720. The published range is $40,100 up to $77,790, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Mexico's $48,524, worked from $59,720. 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 216 of 485.
- Two cautions on $53,685, the adjusted value of that $59,720 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 216 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for carpenters in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,100 to $77,790. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The New Mexico take-home of $48,524, on $59,720 for work ranking 216 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 216 of 485 in the state.
- This $53,685 adjusted figure, worked from $59,720, 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 216 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 216 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 $57,430, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $40,100 at the bottom tenth to $77,790 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 $53,685 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; New Mexico then takes its own share, leaving $48,524.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $57,430. 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 ($40,100 to $77,790) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to 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 $53,685 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 $48,524 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.