Opticians, Dispensing in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,875
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$6,215
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,372
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
$39,090
Kept after tax
$32,875
Worth in national money
$36,372
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. New Mexico pays opticians, dispensing a middle wage of $39,090, 44 of 51 states and about 17.29% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within New Mexico this is lower-paid work. Of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, opticians, dispensing ranks 376. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $39,090 the take-home is $32,875; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $36,372 would nationally. The average comes to $43,750, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Mexico's $39,090 median for opticians, dispensing places it 44 of 51 states, about 17.29% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation New Mexico reports, opticians, dispensing ranks 376 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.
- Post-tax income for opticians, dispensing in New Mexico, on $39,090, is $32,875 — equivalent to $36,372 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 $43,750 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,920 |
| This salary | $39,090 |
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 New Mexico | $32,875 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,589 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,807 |
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 | $38,202 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,185 |
| 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 opticians, dispensing in New Mexico earn under $39,090 and half over. The published range runs $31,010 at the tenth percentile to $72,920 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In New Mexico the take-home figure of $32,875, from $39,090, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 376 of 485 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $36,372, the adjusted value of that $39,090 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New Mexico. 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 376 of 485 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for opticians, dispensing in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,010 to $72,920; 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.
- Take-home for New Mexico is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,875 from $39,090. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 376 of 485 locally.
- This $36,372 adjusted figure, worked from $39,090, 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 376 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 376 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $43,750, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $31,010 at the bottom tenth to $72,920 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 $36,372.
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 $32,875.
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 $43,750. 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 ($31,010) and the ninetieth ($72,920) 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 $36,372 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 $32,875 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.