News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,366
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$9,724
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,573
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
$50,090
Kept after tax
$40,366
Worth in national money
$41,573
State rank
24
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $50,090, ranking 24 of 48 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 310 among 484 occupations Maine publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $50,090 the take-home is $40,366, which is worth about $41,573 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $54,840, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maine occupies the middle band for news analysts, reporters, and journalists: a median of $50,090, ranking 24 of 48. 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 310 of 484 in Maine places news analysts, reporters, and journalists 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.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for news analysts, reporters, and journalists on its $50,090 median: $40,366 retained after tax becomes $41,573 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $54,840 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,650 |
| This salary | $50,090 |
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 | $40,366 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,427 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,088 |
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 | $47,525 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,525 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,090 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,900 and the ninetieth is $75,650 — 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 Maine's $40,366, worked from $50,090. 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 310 of 484.
- Two cautions on $41,573, the adjusted value of that $50,090 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maine. 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 310 of 484 locally.
- The Maine median of $50,090 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,900 to $75,650. 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 Maine take-home of $40,366, on $50,090 for work ranking 310 of 484 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 310 of 484 in the state.
- This $41,573 adjusted figure, worked from $50,090, 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 310 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 310 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $54,840, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $35,900 at the bottom tenth to $75,650 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 $41,573.
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; Maine then takes its own share, leaving $40,366.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 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 Maine is $54,840. 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 ($35,900) and the ninetieth ($75,650) 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?
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 $41,573 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 $40,366 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.
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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.