Court, Municipal, and License Clerks in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,860
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$8,100
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,994
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
$46,960
Kept after tax
$38,860
Worth in national money
$42,994
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico sits in the middle of the pack for court, municipal, and license clerks. The median is $46,960, ranking 29 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Court, municipal, and license clerks ranks 313 among 485 occupations New Mexico publishes pay for.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,960 you keep $38,860, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,994 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $47,720, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Mexico occupies the middle band for court, municipal, and license clerks: a median of $46,960, ranking 29 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 313 of 485 in New Mexico places court, municipal, and license clerks 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.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for court, municipal, and license clerks on $46,960 is $38,860. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,994 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 $47,720 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Court, Municipal, and License Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,970 |
| This salary | $46,960 |
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 | $38,860 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,912 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,921 |
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 | $45,651 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,323 |
| 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 court, municipal, and license clerks in New Mexico earn under $46,960 and half over. The published range runs $38,230 at the tenth percentile to $57,970 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In New Mexico the take-home figure of $38,860, from $46,960, 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 313 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 $42,994 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 313.
- Figures are distribution medians for court, municipal, and license clerks in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,230 to $57,970; 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.
- Take-home for New Mexico is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,860 from $46,960. 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 313 of 485 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,994, worked from $46,960, 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 313 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,230 at the tenth percentile, $57,970 at the ninetieth.
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 $42,994.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and New Mexico adds its own income tax on top — which is why $38,860 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,230 to $57,970) 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 $42,994 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 $38,860 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.