Curators in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,527
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$12,163
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,008
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
$63,690
Kept after tax
$51,527
Worth in national money
$57,008
State rank
16
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for curators is strong here. New Mexico's middle earner gets $63,690, putting the state 16 of 49 — about 0.43% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in New Mexico, this sits in the middle: 183 of 485 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $63,690 the take-home is $51,527; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $57,008 would nationally. The average lands at $62,670, below the middle of the range.
- For curators, New Mexico sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $63,690, ranking 16 of 49 and running about 0.43% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Curators ranks 183 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.
- Post-tax income for curators in New Mexico, on $63,690, is $51,527 — equivalent to $57,008 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 $62,670 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Curators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,960 |
| This salary | $63,690 |
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 | $51,527 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,355 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,102 |
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 | $61,415 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,542 |
| 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 curators in New Mexico earn under $63,690 and half over. The published range runs $50,350 at the tenth percentile to $74,960 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 New Mexico's $51,527, worked from $63,690. 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 183 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of New Mexico, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $57,008, the adjusted value of that $63,690 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 183 of 485 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for curators in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $50,350 to $74,960; 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 New Mexico take-home of $51,527, on $63,690 for work ranking 183 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 183 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Mexico, so $57,008 — the adjusted value of that $63,690 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 183 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $50,350 at the bottom tenth to $74,960 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. New Mexico is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $57,008 in national terms.
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 $51,527 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($50,350 to $74,960) 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 $57,008 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 $51,527 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.