Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,784
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$7,446
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,697
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
$44,230
Kept after tax
$36,784
Worth in national money
$40,697
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $44,230, ranking 32 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 349 among 485 occupations New Mexico publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $44,230 you keep $36,784 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $40,697 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $44,940, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Mexico occupies the middle band for medical secretaries and administrative assistants: a median of $44,230, ranking 32 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 349 of 485 in New Mexico places medical secretaries and administrative assistants in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $36,784 after the full tax stack, from $44,230. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $40,697 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,940 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,790 |
| This salary | $44,230 |
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 | $36,784 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,719 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,881 |
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 | $43,067 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,275 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of medical secretaries and administrative assistants in New Mexico earn under $44,230 and half over. The published range runs $36,210 at the tenth percentile to $57,790 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Mexico's $36,784, worked from $44,230. 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 349 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,697 uses one figure for the whole of New Mexico. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 485 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 349.
- Figures are distribution medians for medical secretaries and administrative assistants in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,210 to $57,790; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The New Mexico take-home of $36,784, on $44,230 for work ranking 349 of 485 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 349 of 485 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,697, worked from $44,230, 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 New Mexico address, on work sitting at 349 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,210 and the top tenth $57,790, so most people doing this work in New Mexico sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $40,697 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 $36,784 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,210 to $57,790) 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 $40,697 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 $36,784 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.