Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,879
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$7,761
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,922
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
$42,640
Kept after tax
$34,879
Worth in national money
$35,922
State rank
19
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Maine is 19 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $42,640. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Maine this is lower-paid work. Of 484 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 424. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $42,640 the take-home is $34,879, which is worth about $35,922 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $43,040, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maine ranks 19 of 51 for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand at $42,640. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Maine reports, laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand ranks 424 of 484, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand on its $42,640 median: $34,879 retained after tax becomes $35,922 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $43,040 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,230 |
| This salary | $42,640 |
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 | $34,879 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,441 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,579 |
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 | $40,695 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,910 |
| 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 $42,640. The published range is $32,550 up to $55,230, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $34,879 take-home in Maine comes from $42,640. 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 424 of 484.
- Two cautions on $35,922, the adjusted value of that $42,640 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maine. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 424 of 484 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $32,550 to $55,230. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $34,879, from $42,640, assumes a single Maine 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 424 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 19 of 51 for it.
- This $35,922 adjusted figure, worked from $42,640, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 424 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 424 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $32,550 and the top tenth $55,230, so most people doing this work in Maine sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $35,922.
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, $34,879 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,550 to $55,230) 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 $35,922 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 $34,879 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.