Maintenance Workers, Machinery in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,708
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$5,532
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,974
New Mexico costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the bottom tenth 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
$36,240
Kept after tax
$30,708
Worth in national money
$33,974
State rank
46
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for maintenance workers, machinery is on the low side in New Mexico. The middle earner gets $36,240. That is 46 of 46 states, and about 40.44% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 485 occupations New Mexico publishes, maintenance workers, machinery lands at 429. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $36,240 you keep $30,708, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,974 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $47,480, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For maintenance workers, machinery, New Mexico sits in the lower band at $36,240, ranking 46 of 46 and trailing the national median by about 40.44%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within New Mexico, this work ranks 429 of 485 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for maintenance workers, machinery on $36,240 is $30,708. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,974 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $47,480 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Maintenance Workers, Machinery
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,580 |
| This salary | $36,240 |
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 | $30,708 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,299 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,765 |
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 | $35,504 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,135 |
| 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 $36,240. The published range is $36,240 up to $73,580, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $30,708 take-home in New Mexico comes from $36,240. 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 429 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 $33,974, the adjusted value of that $36,240 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 429 of 485 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for maintenance workers, machinery in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,240 to $73,580. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $30,708, from $36,240, 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 429 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 46 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Mexico, so $33,974 — the adjusted value of that $36,240 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 429 of 485 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 $47,480 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 $36,240 at the bottom tenth to $73,580 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $33,974.
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; New Mexico then takes its own share, leaving $30,708.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 New Mexico is $47,480. 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 ($36,240) and the ninetieth ($73,580) 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?
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 $33,974 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 $30,708 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.
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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.