Lawyers in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$81,964
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$31,156
27.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$84,415
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
$113,120
Kept after tax
$81,964
Worth in national money
$84,415
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for lawyers is on the low side in Maine. The middle earner gets $113,120. That is 38 of 51 states, and about 29.15% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 484 occupations Maine reports, lawyers comes in at 34 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $113,120, take-home of $81,964 is worth roughly $84,415 in national money. The average comes to $129,600, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For lawyers, Maine sits in the lower band at $113,120, ranking 38 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 29.15%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Lawyers ranks 34 of 484 occupations by median in Maine, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for lawyers, whose median is $113,120, the adjusted figure of $84,415 differs little from $81,964 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $129,600 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Lawyers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $113,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $215,610 |
| This salary | $113,120 |
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 | $81,964 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $88,410 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,565 |
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 | $103,957 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,069 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $113,120 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $76,820 and the ninetieth is $215,610 — 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 $81,964, worked from $113,120. 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 34 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $84,415 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 34.
- The Maine median of $113,120 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $76,820 to $215,610. 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 $81,964, on $113,120 for work ranking 34 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 34 of 484 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $84,415, worked from $113,120, 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 34 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 $129,600 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $76,820 at the bottom tenth to $215,610 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Maine sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $84,415 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $81,964.
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 $129,600. 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 ($76,820) and the ninetieth ($215,610) 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 $84,415 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 $81,964 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.