Mechanical Engineers in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$112,664
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$45,046
28.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$124,648
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
$157,710
Kept after tax
$112,664
Worth in national money
$124,648
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for mechanical engineers is strong here. New Mexico's middle earner gets $157,710, putting the state 1 of 51 — about 51.48% ahead of the national figure.
- Within New Mexico this is well-paid work. Of 485 occupations with published figures in the state, mechanical engineers ranks 9 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $157,710 the take-home is $112,664; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $124,648 would nationally. The average lands at $152,430, below the middle of the range.
- For mechanical engineers, New Mexico sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $157,710, ranking 1 of 51 and running about 51.48% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Ranked against every occupation New Mexico publishes a median for, mechanical engineers sits 9 of 485 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for mechanical engineers in New Mexico, on $157,710, is $112,664 — equivalent to $124,648 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $152,430 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $103,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $157,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $203,140 |
| This salary | $157,710 |
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 | $112,664 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $119,061 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,125 |
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 | $148,351 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,022 |
| 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 $157,710. The published range is $103,780 up to $203,140, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $112,664 take-home in New Mexico comes from $157,710. 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 9 of 485.
- Two cautions on $124,648, the adjusted value of that $157,710 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New Mexico. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 9 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for mechanical engineers in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $103,780 to $203,140. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $112,664, from $157,710, 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 9 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 1 of 51 for it.
- This $124,648 adjusted figure, worked from $157,710, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 9 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 9 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $152,430, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $103,780 at the tenth percentile, $203,140 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in New Mexico sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $124,648 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 New Mexico adds its own income tax on top — which is why $112,664 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
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 $152,430. 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 ($103,780 to $203,140) 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 $124,648 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 $112,664 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.