Hazardous Materials Removal Workers in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,773
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$9,667
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,429
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
$53,440
Kept after tax
$43,773
Worth in national money
$48,429
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. New Mexico's middle earner gets $53,440, putting the state 16 of 51 — about 8.07% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations New Mexico reports figures for, this is number 249.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $53,440 the take-home is $43,773; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $48,429 would nationally. The average comes to $55,550, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For hazardous materials removal workers, New Mexico sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $53,440, ranking 16 of 51 and running about 8.07% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In New Mexico's occupational distribution, hazardous materials removal workers sits at 249 of 485 — 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.
- Post-tax income for hazardous materials removal workers in New Mexico, on $53,440, is $43,773 — equivalent to $48,429 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 $55,550 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Hazardous Materials Removal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,000 |
| This salary | $53,440 |
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 | $43,773 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,119 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,998 |
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 | $51,765 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,417 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of hazardous materials removal workers in New Mexico earn under $53,440 and half over. The published range runs $37,010 at the tenth percentile to $78,000 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $43,773 take-home in New Mexico comes from $53,440. 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 249 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $48,429 uses one figure for the whole of New Mexico. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 485 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 249.
- Figures are distribution medians for hazardous materials removal workers in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,010 to $78,000; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $43,773, from $53,440, assumes a single New Mexico 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 249 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,429, worked from $53,440, 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 New Mexico address, on work sitting at 249 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $55,550, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,010 at the bottom tenth to $78,000 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 $48,429.
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; New Mexico then takes its own share, leaving $43,773.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $55,550. 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 ($37,010) and the ninetieth ($78,000) 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?
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 $48,429 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 $43,773 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.
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.