Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,549
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$8,951
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,968
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
$50,500
Kept after tax
$41,549
Worth in national money
$45,968
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. New Mexico pays this job a middle wage of $50,500, 49 of 51 states and about 13.88% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in New Mexico, this sits in the middle: 265 of 485 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $50,500 you keep $41,549, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $45,968 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $53,100, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Mexico's $50,500 median for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers places it 49 of 51 states, about 13.88% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers ranks 265 of 485 occupations in New Mexico by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers on $50,500 is $41,549. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $45,968 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $53,100 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,990 |
| This salary | $50,500 |
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 | $41,549 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,757 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,969 |
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 | $48,997 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,381 |
| 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 $50,500. The published range is $38,540 up to $65,990, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Mexico's $41,549, worked from $50,500. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 265 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,968 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 265.
- Reported values are medians; for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,540 to $65,990. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The New Mexico take-home of $41,549, on $50,500 for work ranking 265 of 485 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 265 of 485 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,968, worked from $50,500, 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 265 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 $53,100, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,540 at the tenth percentile, $65,990 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. New Mexico is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $45,968 in national terms.
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 New Mexico adds its own income tax on top — which is why $41,549 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $53,100. 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 ($38,540 to $65,990) 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 $45,968 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 $41,549 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.