First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$68,837
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$23,513
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,896
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
$92,350
Kept after tax
$68,837
Worth in national money
$70,896
State rank
34
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Maine is 34 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $92,350. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 484 occupations Maine reports, this job comes in at 79 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $92,350, take-home of $68,837 is worth roughly $70,896 in national money. The average comes to $96,150, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine ranks 34 of 51 for first-line supervisors of police and detectives at $92,350. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- First-line supervisors of police and detectives ranks 79 of 484 occupations by median in Maine, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for first-line supervisors of police and detectives, whose median is $92,350, the adjusted figure of $70,896 differs little from $68,837 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $96,150 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $77,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $92,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $118,590 |
| This salary | $92,350 |
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 | $68,837 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $73,798 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,048 |
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 | $85,298 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,973 |
| 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 $92,350. The published range is $77,630 up to $118,590, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $68,837 take-home in Maine comes from $92,350. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 79 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $70,896 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 79.
- Reported values are medians; for first-line supervisors of police and detectives in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $77,630 to $118,590. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $68,837, from $92,350, assumes a single Maine filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 79 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 34 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $70,896, worked from $92,350, 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 79 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 $96,150 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $77,630 at the tenth percentile, $118,590 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Maine sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $70,896 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $68,837 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 $96,150. 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 ($77,630 to $118,590) 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 $70,896 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 $68,837 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.