Helpers--Carpenters in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,374
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$9,726
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,581
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
$50,100
Kept after tax
$40,374
Worth in national money
$41,581
State rank
5
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for helpers--carpenters is strong here. Maine's middle earner gets $50,100, putting the state 5 of 47 — about 14.44% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Maine reports figures for, this is number 309.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $50,100, tax leaves $40,374, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $41,581 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $48,560.
- For helpers--carpenters, Maine sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $50,100, ranking 5 of 47 and running about 14.44% 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 Maine's occupational distribution, helpers--carpenters sits at 309 of 484 — 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.
- Because Maine sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for helpers--carpenters — median $50,100 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $40,374 retained, $41,581 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $48,560 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Helpers--Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $54,950 |
| This salary | $50,100 |
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 | $40,374 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,435 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,088 |
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 | $47,534 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,526 |
| 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 $50,100. The published range is $39,480 up to $54,950, 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 Maine's $40,374, worked from $50,100. 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 309 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $41,581, the adjusted value of that $50,100 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 309 of 484 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for helpers--carpenters in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,480 to $54,950. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Maine take-home of $40,374, on $50,100 for work ranking 309 of 484 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 309 of 484 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $41,581 — the adjusted value of that $50,100 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 309 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $48,560 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $39,480 at the bottom tenth to $54,950 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $41,581.
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 Maine's own levy, $40,374 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 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 Maine is $48,560. 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 ($39,480 to $54,950) 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 $41,581 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 $40,374 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.
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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.