Light Truck Drivers in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,362
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$6,998
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,123
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
$42,360
Kept after tax
$35,362
Worth in national money
$39,123
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico is among the lower-paying states for light truck drivers. The middle earner takes $42,360, ranking 42 of 51 states — about 5.57% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations New Mexico reports figures for, this is number 357.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $42,360 you keep $35,362 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $39,123 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $43,090, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Mexico ranks 42 of 51 for light truck drivers, with a median of $42,360 — about 5.57% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In New Mexico's occupational distribution, light truck drivers sits at 357 of 485 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $35,362 after the full tax stack, from $42,360. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $39,123 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $43,090 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Light Truck Drivers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,320 |
| This salary | $42,360 |
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 | $35,362 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,216 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,854 |
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 | $41,297 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,243 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New Mexico earn less than $42,360. The published range is $30,590 up to $58,320, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $35,362 take-home in New Mexico comes from $42,360. 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 357 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 $39,123, the adjusted value of that $42,360 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 357 of 485 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for light truck drivers in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,590 to $58,320. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $35,362, from $42,360, 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 357 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Mexico, so $39,123 — the adjusted value of that $42,360 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 357 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,590 at the tenth percentile, $58,320 at the ninetieth.
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 $39,123.
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, $35,362 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,590 to $58,320) 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 $39,123 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 $35,362 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.
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.