Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,995
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$7,285
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,737
Maryland costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maryland — 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
$40,280
Kept after tax
$32,995
Worth in national money
$31,737
State rank
16
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maryland is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $40,280, which ranks 16 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 2.55% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Maryland, this one sits low: 425 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $40,280, tax leaves $32,995 — and because Maryland is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $31,737 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $41,980, since top earners drag the number up.
- Maryland ranks 16 of 50 states publishing a median for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service, at $40,280 — about 2.55% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service occupies position 425 of 489 in Maryland's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After tax, $32,995 remains from the Maryland median of $40,280 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $31,737 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $41,980 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $53,850 |
| This salary | $40,280 |
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 Maryland | $32,995 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,545 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,812 |
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 | $38,351 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,611 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $40,280 as a midpoint for Maryland, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,280 and the ninetieth is $53,850 — 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 Maryland's $32,995, worked from $40,280. 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 425 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,737 uses one figure for the whole of Maryland. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 425.
- The Maryland median of $40,280 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,280 to $53,850. 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 Maryland take-home of $32,995, on $40,280 for work ranking 425 of 489 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 425 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,737, worked from $40,280, 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 Maryland address, on work sitting at 425 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $41,980, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $32,280 at the bottom tenth to $53,850 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $31,737 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Maryland adds its own income tax on top — which is why $32,995 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 Maryland is $41,980. 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 ($32,280 to $53,850) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maryland rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Maryland's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $31,737 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $32,995 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maryland 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.