Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,826
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$15,554
20.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,083
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
$74,380
Kept after tax
$58,826
Worth in national money
$65,083
State rank
10
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. New Mexico pays this job a middle wage of $74,380, ranking 10 of 50 states and sitting about 18.67% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 143 among 485 occupations New Mexico publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $74,380 you keep $58,826 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $65,083 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $71,000.
- New Mexico's median for kindergarten teachers, except special education is $74,380, about 18.67% above the national figure and 10 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 143 of 485 in New Mexico places kindergarten teachers, except special education in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $58,826 after the full tax stack, from $74,380. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $65,083 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $71,000 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $74,380 |
| Top tenth earn over | $88,570 |
| This salary | $74,380 |
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 | $58,826 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,156 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,149 |
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 | $71,068 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,969 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of kindergarten teachers, except special education in New Mexico earn under $74,380 and half over. The published range runs $51,420 at the tenth percentile to $88,570 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $58,826 take-home in New Mexico comes from $74,380. 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 143 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of New Mexico, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $65,083, the adjusted value of that $74,380 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 143 of 485 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for kindergarten teachers, except special education in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $51,420 to $88,570; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $58,826, from $74,380, 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 143 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 10 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Mexico, so $65,083 — the adjusted value of that $74,380 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 143 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 $71,000, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $51,420 at the bottom tenth to $88,570 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $65,083 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, $58,826 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $71,000. 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 ($51,420 to $88,570) 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 $65,083 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 $58,826 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.