Driver/Sales Workers in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,836
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$7,064
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,818
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
$39,900
Kept after tax
$32,836
Worth in national money
$33,818
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine sits in the middle of the pack for driver/sales workers. The median is $39,900, ranking 18 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Maine, this one sits low: 436 of 484 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $39,900 the take-home is $32,836, which is worth about $33,818 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $42,440, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maine occupies the middle band for driver/sales workers: a median of $39,900, ranking 18 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.
- Driver/sales workers occupies position 436 of 484 in Maine's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for driver/sales workers on its $39,900 median: $32,836 retained after tax becomes $33,818 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $42,440 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Driver/Sales Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,040 |
| This salary | $39,900 |
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 | $32,836 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,240 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,417 |
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 | $38,153 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,714 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maine earn less than $39,900. The published range is $30,470 up to $59,040, 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 Maine's $32,836, worked from $39,900. 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 436 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,818 uses one figure for the whole of Maine. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 484 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 436.
- Reported values are medians; for driver/sales workers in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,470 to $59,040. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Maine take-home of $32,836, on $39,900 for work ranking 436 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 436 of 484 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,818, worked from $39,900, 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 Maine address, on work sitting at 436 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 $42,440, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,470 at the tenth percentile, $59,040 at the ninetieth.
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 $33,818 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 Maine adds its own income tax on top — which is why $32,836 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.
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 $42,440. 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 ($30,470 to $59,040) 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 $33,818 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 $32,836 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.
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.