Health Education Specialists in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,409
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$11,891
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,796
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
$58,300
Kept after tax
$46,409
Worth in national money
$47,796
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for health education specialists is on the low side in Maine. The middle earner gets $58,300. That is 38 of 51 states, and about 9.01% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Health education specialists ranks 258 among 484 occupations Maine publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $58,300, take-home of $46,409 is worth roughly $47,796 in national money. The average comes to $61,860, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For health education specialists, Maine sits in the lower band at $58,300, ranking 38 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 9.01%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 258 of 484 in Maine places health education specialists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for health education specialists, whose median is $58,300, the adjusted figure of $47,796 differs little from $46,409 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $61,860 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Health Education Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,490 |
| This salary | $58,300 |
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 | $46,409 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,024 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,653 |
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 | $55,045 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,208 |
| 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 $58,300. The published range is $45,290 up to $82,490, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $46,409 take-home in Maine comes from $58,300. 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 258 of 484.
- Two cautions on $47,796, the adjusted value of that $58,300 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maine. 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 258 of 484 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for health education specialists in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,290 to $82,490. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $46,409, from $58,300, 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 258 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 51 for it.
- This $47,796 adjusted figure, worked from $58,300, 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 258 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 258 of 484 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 $61,860, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $45,290 at the bottom tenth to $82,490 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 Maine sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $47,796 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $46,409.
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 Maine is $61,860. 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 ($45,290 to $82,490) 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 $47,796 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 $46,409 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.