Paramedics in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,354
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$10,176
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,178
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
$55,530
Kept after tax
$45,354
Worth in national money
$50,178
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico is among the lower-paying states for paramedics. The middle earner takes $55,530, ranking 39 of 51 states — about 8.37% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in New Mexico, this sits in the middle: 242 of 485 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $55,530 the take-home is $45,354; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $50,178 would nationally. The average comes to $63,150, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Mexico ranks 39 of 51 for paramedics, with a median of $55,530 — about 8.37% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Paramedics ranks 242 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.
- Post-tax income for paramedics in New Mexico, on $55,530, is $45,354 — equivalent to $50,178 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 $63,150 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Paramedics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,010 |
| This salary | $55,530 |
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 | $45,354 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,798 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,019 |
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 | $53,733 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,442 |
| 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 $55,530. The published range is $39,830 up to $78,010, 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 $45,354, worked from $55,530. 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 242 of 485.
- Two cautions on $50,178, the adjusted value of that $55,530 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 242 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for paramedics in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,830 to $78,010. 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 $45,354, on $55,530 for work ranking 242 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 242 of 485 in the state.
- This $50,178 adjusted figure, worked from $55,530, 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 242 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 242 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $63,150, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $39,830 at the tenth percentile, $78,010 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in New Mexico sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $50,178 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $45,354.
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 $63,150. 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 ($39,830 to $78,010) 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 $50,178 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 $45,354 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.