Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,032
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$8,528
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,139
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
$45,560
Kept after tax
$37,032
Worth in national money
$38,139
State rank
48
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for earth drillers, except oil and gas is on the low side in Maine. The middle earner gets $45,560. That is 48 of 48 states, and about 24.31% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 484 occupations Maine publishes, earth drillers, except oil and gas lands at 392. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $45,560, tax leaves $37,032, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $38,139 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $49,030, since top earners drag the number up.
- For earth drillers, except oil and gas, Maine sits in the lower band at $45,560, ranking 48 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 24.31%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Maine, this work ranks 392 of 484 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Because Maine sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for earth drillers, except oil and gas — median $45,560 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $37,032 retained, $38,139 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $49,030 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,050 |
| This salary | $45,560 |
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 | $37,032 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,787 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,776 |
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 | $43,375 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,147 |
| 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 $45,560. The published range is $31,960 up to $69,050, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Maine the take-home figure of $37,032, from $45,560, 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 392 of 484 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,139, the adjusted value of that $45,560 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 392 of 484 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for earth drillers, except oil and gas in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,960 to $69,050. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Maine is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,032 from $45,560. 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 392 of 484 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $38,139 — the adjusted value of that $45,560 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 392 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 $49,030, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $31,960 and the top tenth $69,050 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $38,139.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Maine then takes its own share, leaving $37,032.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 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 $49,030. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($31,960) and the ninetieth ($69,050) 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?
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 $38,139 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 $37,032 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.