Optometrists in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$107,224
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$46,886
30.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$110,429
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
$154,110
Kept after tax
$107,224
Worth in national money
$110,429
State rank
10
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for optometrists is strong here. Maine's middle earner gets $154,110, putting the state 10 of 51 — about 12.84% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Maine this is well-paid work. Of 484 occupations with published figures in the state, optometrists ranks 9 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $154,110, take-home of $107,224 is worth roughly $110,429 in national money. The average comes to $160,730, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For optometrists, Maine sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $154,110, ranking 10 of 51 and running about 12.84% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Maine publishes a median for, optometrists sits 9 of 484 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for optometrists, whose median is $154,110, the adjusted figure of $110,429 differs little from $107,224 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $160,730 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $102,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $154,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $241,200 |
| This salary | $154,110 |
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 | $107,224 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $116,600 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,561 |
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 | $140,391 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,593 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $154,110 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $102,600 and the ninetieth is $241,200 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Maine the take-home figure of $107,224, from $154,110, 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 9 of 484 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $110,429 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 9.
- The Maine median of $154,110 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $102,600 to $241,200. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Maine is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $107,224 from $154,110. 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 9 of 484 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $110,429, worked from $154,110, 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 9 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 $160,730, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $102,600 and the top tenth $241,200 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $110,429 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 $107,224 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $160,730. 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 ($102,600) and the ninetieth ($241,200) 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 $110,429 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 $107,224 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.
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.