Occupational Therapy Assistants in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,559
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$16,461
21.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,001
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
$77,020
Kept after tax
$60,559
Worth in national money
$67,001
State rank
8
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $77,020, which ranks 8 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 6.53% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations New Mexico reports figures for, this is number 125.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $77,020 the take-home is $60,559; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $67,001 would nationally. The average lands at $71,550, below the middle of the range.
- New Mexico ranks 8 of 50 states publishing a median for occupational therapy assistants, at $77,020 — about 6.53% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In New Mexico's occupational distribution, occupational therapy assistants sits at 125 of 485 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for occupational therapy assistants in New Mexico, on $77,020, is $60,559 — equivalent to $67,001 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 $71,550 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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: Occupational Therapy Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $94,000 |
| This salary | $77,020 |
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 | $60,559 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,014 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,155 |
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 | $73,531 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,977 |
| 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 $77,020. The published range is $36,820 up to $94,000, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Mexico's $60,559, worked from $77,020. 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 125 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $67,001 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 125.
- Reported values are medians; for occupational therapy assistants in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,820 to $94,000. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The New Mexico take-home of $60,559, on $77,020 for work ranking 125 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 125 of 485 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $67,001, worked from $77,020, 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 125 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 $71,550 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 $36,820 at the bottom tenth to $94,000 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $67,001 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and New Mexico's own levy, $60,559 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 New Mexico is $71,550. 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 ($36,820) and the ninetieth ($94,000) 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 $67,001 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 $60,559 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.