Nursing Assistants in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,103
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$6,287
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,624
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
$39,390
Kept after tax
$33,103
Worth in national money
$36,624
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. New Mexico is 30 of 51 states for nursing assistants, with a middle wage of $39,390. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within New Mexico this is lower-paid work. Of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, nursing assistants ranks 372. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,390 you keep $33,103, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,624 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $41,400, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Mexico ranks 30 of 51 for nursing assistants at $39,390. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation New Mexico reports, nursing assistants ranks 372 of 485, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for nursing assistants on $39,390 is $33,103. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,624 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 $41,400 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Nursing Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,340 |
| This salary | $39,390 |
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 | $33,103 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,830 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,811 |
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 | $38,486 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,190 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,390 as a midpoint for New Mexico, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,110 and the ninetieth is $48,340 — 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 New Mexico's $33,103, worked from $39,390. 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 372 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 $36,624, the adjusted value of that $39,390 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 372 of 485 in the state.
- The New Mexico median of $39,390 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,110 to $48,340. 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 New Mexico take-home of $33,103, on $39,390 for work ranking 372 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 372 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Mexico, so $36,624 — the adjusted value of that $39,390 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 372 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 $41,400, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $34,110 at the bottom tenth to $48,340 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $36,624.
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 $33,103.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 New Mexico is $41,400. 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 ($34,110 to $48,340) 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 $36,624 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 $33,103 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.