Curators in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,062
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$11,408
20.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,409
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
$56,470
Kept after tax
$45,062
Worth in national money
$46,409
State rank
39
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for curators is on the low side in Maine. The middle earner gets $56,470. That is 39 of 49 states, and about 10.96% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Curators ranks 274 among 484 occupations Maine publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $56,470, take-home of $45,062 is worth roughly $46,409 in national money. The average comes to $58,570, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For curators, Maine sits in the lower band at $56,470, ranking 39 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 10.96%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 274 of 484 in Maine places curators 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.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for curators, whose median is $56,470, the adjusted figure of $46,409 differs little from $45,062 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $58,570 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Curators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,110 |
| This salary | $56,470 |
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 | $45,062 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,554 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,527 |
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 | $53,369 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,056 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
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 curators in Maine earn under $56,470 and half over. The published range runs $40,100 at the tenth percentile to $80,110 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Maine's $45,062, worked from $56,470. 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 274 of 484.
- Two cautions on $46,409, the adjusted value of that $56,470 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maine. 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 274 of 484 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for curators in Maine, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,100 to $80,110; 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.
- The Maine take-home of $45,062, on $56,470 for work ranking 274 of 484 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 274 of 484 in the state.
- This $46,409 adjusted figure, worked from $56,470, 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 274 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 274 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $58,570, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $40,100 at the bottom tenth to $80,110 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. Maine is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $46,409 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, $45,062 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $58,570. 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 $80,110) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
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 $46,409 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 $45,062 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.