Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,928
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$10,642
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,211
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
$53,570
Kept after tax
$42,928
Worth in national money
$44,211
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Maine is 18 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $53,570. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Maine, this sits in the middle: 287 of 484 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $53,570, take-home of $42,928 is worth roughly $44,211 in national money. The average comes to $56,060, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine ranks 18 of 51 for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers at $53,570. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers ranks 287 of 484 occupations in Maine 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.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers, whose median is $53,570, the adjusted figure of $44,211 differs little from $42,928 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $56,060 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,730 |
| This salary | $53,570 |
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 | $42,928 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,223 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,327 |
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 | $50,713 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,815 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $53,570 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,200 and the ninetieth is $79,730 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Maine's $42,928, worked from $53,570. 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 287 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $44,211 uses one figure for the whole of Maine. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 484 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 287.
- The Maine median of $53,570 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,200 to $79,730. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Maine take-home of $42,928, on $53,570 for work ranking 287 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 287 of 484 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $44,211, worked from $53,570, 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 Maine address, on work sitting at 287 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $56,060, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $34,200, the highest tenth $79,730, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Maine is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $44,211 in national terms.
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 $42,928.
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 $56,060. 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 ($34,200) and the ninetieth ($79,730) 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?
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 $44,211 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 $42,928 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.