Machinists in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,042
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$12,118
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,448
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
$59,160
Kept after tax
$47,042
Worth in national money
$48,448
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Maine is 25 of 51 states for machinists, with a middle wage of $59,160. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Maine, this sits in the middle: 251 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 $59,160, take-home of $47,042 is worth roughly $48,448 in national money. The average comes to $60,910, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine ranks 25 of 51 for machinists at $59,160. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Machinists ranks 251 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 machinists, whose median is $59,160, the adjusted figure of $48,448 differs little from $47,042 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $60,910 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Machinists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,380 |
| This salary | $59,160 |
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 | $47,042 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,715 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,712 |
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 | $55,833 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,280 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $59,160 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $45,760 and the ninetieth is $78,380 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $47,042 take-home in Maine comes from $59,160. 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 251 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $48,448 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 251.
- The Maine median of $59,160 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $45,760 to $78,380. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $47,042, from $59,160, 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 251 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,448, worked from $59,160, 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 251 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $45,760 at the bottom tenth to $78,380 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $48,448.
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, $47,042 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 ($45,760 to $78,380) 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 $48,448 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 $47,042 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.