Conservation Scientists in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,415
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$16,385
21.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,841
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
$76,800
Kept after tax
$60,415
Worth in national money
$66,841
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. New Mexico pays conservation scientists around $76,800 at the midpoint, 18 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in New Mexico, this sits in the middle: 127 of 485 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $76,800 you keep $60,415, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $66,841 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $79,030, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For conservation scientists the New Mexico median is $76,800, ranking 18 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.
- Conservation scientists ranks 127 of 485 occupations in New Mexico by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for conservation scientists on $76,800 is $60,415. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $66,841 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $79,030 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Conservation Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,800 |
| Top tenth earn over | $111,010 |
| This salary | $76,800 |
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 | $60,415 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,859 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,155 |
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 | $73,326 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,976 |
| 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 $76,800. The published range is $46,520 up to $111,010, 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 $60,415, worked from $76,800. 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 127 of 485.
- Two cautions on $66,841, the adjusted value of that $76,800 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 127 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for conservation scientists in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,520 to $111,010. 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 $60,415, on $76,800 for work ranking 127 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 127 of 485 in the state.
- This $66,841 adjusted figure, worked from $76,800, 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 127 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 127 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $46,520, the highest tenth $111,010, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $66,841.
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, $60,415 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($46,520) and the ninetieth ($111,010) 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 $66,841 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 $60,415 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.