Office Machine Operators, Except Computer in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,797
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$8,443
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,897
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
$45,240
Kept after tax
$36,797
Worth in national money
$37,897
State rank
11
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Maine's middle earner gets $45,240, putting the state 11 of 47 — about 10.45% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Maine this is lower-paid work. Of 484 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 401. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $45,240, take-home of $36,797 is worth roughly $37,897 in national money. The average comes to $46,650, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For office machine operators, except computer, Maine sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $45,240, ranking 11 of 47 and running about 10.45% 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.
- Against every occupation Maine reports, office machine operators, except computer ranks 401 of 484, 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.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for office machine operators, except computer, whose median is $45,240, the adjusted figure of $37,897 differs little from $36,797 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $46,650 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Office Machine Operators, Except Computer
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,430 |
| This salary | $45,240 |
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 | $36,797 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,530 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,754 |
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 | $43,082 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,121 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maine earn less than $45,240. The published range is $37,330 up to $56,430, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $36,797 take-home in Maine comes from $45,240. 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 401 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,897 uses one figure for the whole of Maine. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 484 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 401.
- Reported values are medians; for office machine operators, except computer in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,330 to $56,430. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $36,797, from $45,240, assumes a single Maine 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 401 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 11 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,897, worked from $45,240, 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 Maine address, on work sitting at 401 of 484 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 $46,650 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,330 at the tenth percentile, $56,430 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Maine sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $37,897 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 Maine adds its own income tax on top — which is why $36,797 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $46,650. 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 ($37,330 to $56,430) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
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 $37,897 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 $36,797 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.