Health Education Specialists in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,215
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$10,775
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,237
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
$57,990
Kept after tax
$47,215
Worth in national money
$52,237
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico is among the lower-paying states for health education specialists. The middle earner takes $57,990, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 9.49% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations New Mexico reports figures for, this is number 226.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $57,990 the take-home is $47,215; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $52,237 would nationally. The average comes to $62,290, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Mexico ranks 41 of 51 for health education specialists, with a median of $57,990 — about 9.49% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In New Mexico's occupational distribution, health education specialists sits at 226 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 health education specialists in New Mexico, on $57,990, is $47,215 — equivalent to $52,237 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 $62,290 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 | $39,730 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $94,220 |
| This salary | $57,990 |
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 | $47,215 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,775 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,044 |
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 | $56,049 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,472 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New Mexico earn less than $57,990. The published range is $39,730 up to $94,220, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $47,215 take-home in New Mexico comes from $57,990. 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 226 of 485.
- Two cautions on $52,237, the adjusted value of that $57,990 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 226 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for health education specialists in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,730 to $94,220. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $47,215, from $57,990, 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 226 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 51 for it.
- This $52,237 adjusted figure, worked from $57,990, 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 226 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 226 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 $62,290, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $39,730, the highest tenth $94,220, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $52,237 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, $47,215 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 New Mexico is $62,290. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($39,730) and the ninetieth ($94,220) 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 $52,237 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 $47,215 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.