Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$68,104
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$20,426
23.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,348
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
$88,530
Kept after tax
$68,104
Worth in national money
$75,348
State rank
23
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $88,530, ranking 23 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 485 occupations New Mexico reports, this job comes in at 86 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $88,530 the take-home is $68,104; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $75,348 would nationally. The average comes to $94,290, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Mexico occupies the middle band for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers: a median of $88,530, ranking 23 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers ranks 86 of 485 occupations by median in New Mexico, 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.
- Post-tax income for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers in New Mexico, on $88,530, is $68,104 — equivalent to $75,348 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 $94,290 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $88,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $126,260 |
| This salary | $88,530 |
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 | $68,104 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $71,111 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,170 |
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 | $84,256 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,997 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $88,530 as a midpoint for New Mexico, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $66,390 and the ninetieth is $126,260 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In New Mexico the take-home figure of $68,104, from $88,530, 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 86 of 485 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $75,348, the adjusted value of that $88,530 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New Mexico. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 86 of 485 locally.
- The New Mexico median of $88,530 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $66,390 to $126,260. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for New Mexico is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $68,104 from $88,530. 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 86 of 485 locally.
- This $75,348 adjusted figure, worked from $88,530, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 86 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 86 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $94,290, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $66,390 at the bottom tenth to $126,260 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in New Mexico sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $75,348 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 New Mexico's own levy, $68,104 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 New Mexico is $94,290. 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 ($66,390 to $126,260) 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 $75,348 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 $68,104 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.