Paralegals and Legal Assistants in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,615
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$11,225
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,786
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
$59,840
Kept after tax
$48,615
Worth in national money
$53,786
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. New Mexico pays this job around $59,840 at the midpoint, 32 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in New Mexico, this sits in the middle: 214 of 485 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $59,840 you keep $48,615, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $53,786 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $61,530, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For paralegals and legal assistants the New Mexico median is $59,840, ranking 32 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Paralegals and legal assistants ranks 214 of 485 occupations in New Mexico by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for paralegals and legal assistants on $59,840 is $48,615. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $53,786 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 $61,530 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Paralegals and Legal Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,490 |
| This salary | $59,840 |
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 | $48,615 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,261 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,063 |
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 | $57,790 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,495 |
| 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 $59,840. The published range is $43,660 up to $80,490, 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 $48,615, worked from $59,840. 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 214 of 485.
- Two cautions on $53,786, the adjusted value of that $59,840 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 214 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for paralegals and legal assistants in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $43,660 to $80,490. 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 $48,615, on $59,840 for work ranking 214 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 214 of 485 in the state.
- This $53,786 adjusted figure, worked from $59,840, 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 214 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 214 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $43,660 at the tenth percentile, $80,490 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 $53,786 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 $48,615.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($43,660 to $80,490) 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 $53,786 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 $48,615 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.