Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,252
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$5,388
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,469
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
$35,640
Kept after tax
$30,252
Worth in national money
$33,469
State rank
50
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in New Mexico. The middle earner gets $35,640. That is 50 of 50 states, and about 17.54% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 485 occupations New Mexico publishes, this job lands at 437. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $35,640 you keep $30,252, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,469 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $37,310, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For packaging and filling machine operators and tenders, New Mexico sits in the lower band at $35,640, ranking 50 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 17.54%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within New Mexico, this work ranks 437 of 485 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders on $35,640 is $30,252. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,469 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 $37,310 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,280 |
| This salary | $35,640 |
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 | $30,252 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,817 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,757 |
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 | $34,937 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,124 |
| 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 packaging and filling machine operators and tenders in New Mexico earn under $35,640 and half over. The published range runs $30,480 at the tenth percentile to $47,280 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Mexico's $30,252, worked from $35,640. 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 437 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 $33,469, the adjusted value of that $35,640 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 437 of 485 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,480 to $47,280; 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.
- The New Mexico take-home of $30,252, on $35,640 for work ranking 437 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 437 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Mexico, so $33,469 — the adjusted value of that $35,640 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 437 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 $37,310, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,480 at the tenth percentile, $47,280 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. New Mexico is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $33,469 in national terms.
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 $30,252.
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 $37,310. 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 ($30,480 to $47,280) 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 $33,469 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 $30,252 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.