Computer Programmers in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,797
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$26,983
26.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,033
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
$101,780
Kept after tax
$74,797
Worth in national money
$77,033
State rank
14
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Maine pays computer programmers a middle wage of $101,780, ranking 14 of 46 states and sitting about 1.38% above the national middle.
- Within Maine this is well-paid work. Of 484 occupations with published figures in the state, computer programmers ranks 53 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $101,780, tax leaves $74,797, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $77,033 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $117,430, since top earners drag the number up.
- Maine's median for computer programmers is $101,780, about 1.38% above the national figure and 14 of 46 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Ranked against every occupation Maine publishes a median for, computer programmers sits 53 of 484 — 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.
- Because Maine sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for computer programmers — median $101,780 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $74,797 retained, $77,033 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $117,430 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Computer Programmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $72,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $191,670 |
| This salary | $101,780 |
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 | $74,797 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,432 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,737 |
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 | $93,770 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,925 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $101,780 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $72,930 and the ninetieth is $191,670 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Maine the take-home figure of $74,797, from $101,780, 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 53 of 484 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $77,033, the adjusted value of that $101,780 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 53 of 484 in the state.
- The Maine median of $101,780 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $72,930 to $191,670. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Maine is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $74,797 from $101,780. 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 53 of 484 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $77,033 — the adjusted value of that $101,780 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 53 of 484 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 $117,430, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $72,930 at the bottom tenth to $191,670 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Maine is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $77,033 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 Maine's own levy, $74,797 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 Maine is $117,430. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($72,930) and the ninetieth ($191,670) 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?
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 $77,033 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 $74,797 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.
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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.