Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,950
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$19,290
22.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$72,965
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
$85,240
Kept after tax
$65,950
Worth in national money
$72,965
State rank
23
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. New Mexico pays this job around $85,240 at the midpoint, 23 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within New Mexico this is well-paid work. Of 485 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 95 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $85,240 the take-home is $65,950; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $72,965 would nationally. The average comes to $93,100, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For chemistry teachers, postsecondary the New Mexico median is $85,240, ranking 23 of 48 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.
- Ranked against every occupation New Mexico publishes a median for, chemistry teachers, postsecondary sits 95 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.
- Post-tax income for chemistry teachers, postsecondary in New Mexico, on $85,240, is $65,950 — equivalent to $72,965 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $93,100 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $85,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $140,810 |
| This salary | $85,240 |
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 | $65,950 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $68,796 |
| 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 | $81,195 |
|---|---|
| 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
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of chemistry teachers, postsecondary in New Mexico earn under $85,240 and half over. The published range runs $63,380 at the tenth percentile to $140,810 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $65,950 take-home in New Mexico comes from $85,240. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 95 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $72,965 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 95.
- Figures are distribution medians for chemistry teachers, postsecondary in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $63,380 to $140,810; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $65,950, from $85,240, assumes a single New Mexico filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 95 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $72,965, worked from $85,240, 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 95 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $93,100, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $63,380 and the top tenth $140,810 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $72,965.
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 $65,950.
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 48 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 $93,100. 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 ($63,380) and the ninetieth ($140,810) 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 $72,965 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 $65,950 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.