Helpers--Production Workers in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,259
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$5,391
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,478
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
$35,650
Kept after tax
$30,259
Worth in national money
$33,478
State rank
47
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for helpers--production workers is on the low side in New Mexico. The middle earner gets $35,650. That is 47 of 49 states, and about 8.75% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 485 occupations New Mexico publishes, helpers--production workers lands at 436. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $35,650 you keep $30,259 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $33,478 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $37,150, since top earners drag the number up.
- For helpers--production workers, New Mexico sits in the lower band at $35,650, ranking 47 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 8.75%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within New Mexico, this work ranks 436 of 485 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $30,259 after the full tax stack, from $35,650. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,478 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $37,150 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Helpers--Production Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,200 |
| This salary | $35,650 |
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 | $30,259 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,825 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,757 |
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 | $34,946 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,125 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,650 as a midpoint for New Mexico, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,820 and the ninetieth is $46,200 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $30,259 take-home in New Mexico comes from $35,650. 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 436 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,478 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 436.
- The New Mexico median of $35,650 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,820 to $46,200. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $30,259, from $35,650, 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 436 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,478, worked from $35,650, 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 436 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 $37,150, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,820 and the top tenth $46,200, so most people doing this work in New Mexico sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $33,478 in national terms.
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, $30,259 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 New Mexico is $37,150. 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 ($30,820 to $46,200) 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 $33,478 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 $30,259 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.
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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.