Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,429
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$14,051
21.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,997
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
$66,480
Kept after tax
$52,429
Worth in national money
$53,997
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Maine. The middle earner gets $66,480. That is 44 of 51 states, and about 19.14% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Maine reports figures for, this is number 175.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $66,480, tax leaves $52,429, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $53,997 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $71,400, since top earners drag the number up.
- For environmental scientists and specialists, including health, Maine sits in the lower band at $66,480, ranking 44 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 19.14%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Maine's occupational distribution, environmental scientists and specialists, including health sits at 175 of 484 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Because Maine sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for environmental scientists and specialists, including health — median $66,480 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $52,429 retained, $53,997 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $71,400 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $66,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $107,100 |
| This salary | $66,480 |
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 | $52,429 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $55,597 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,216 |
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 | $62,538 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,890 |
| 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 $66,480. The published range is $49,280 up to $107,100, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Maine the take-home figure of $52,429, from $66,480, 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 175 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 $53,997, the adjusted value of that $66,480 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 175 of 484 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for environmental scientists and specialists, including health in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,280 to $107,100. 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 $52,429 from $66,480. 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 175 of 484 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $53,997 — the adjusted value of that $66,480 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 175 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $71,400 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $49,280 at the bottom tenth to $107,100 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $53,997.
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, $52,429 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $71,400. 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 ($49,280) and the ninetieth ($107,100) 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 $53,997 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 $52,429 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.