Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,614
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$9,616
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,253
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
$53,230
Kept after tax
$43,614
Worth in national money
$48,253
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. New Mexico pays payroll and timekeeping clerks a middle wage of $53,230, 37 of 51 states and about 8.63% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations New Mexico reports figures for, this is number 252.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $53,230 you keep $43,614, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $48,253 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $53,380, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Mexico's $53,230 median for payroll and timekeeping clerks places it 37 of 51 states, about 8.63% 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.
- In New Mexico's occupational distribution, payroll and timekeeping clerks sits at 252 of 485 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for payroll and timekeeping clerks on $53,230 is $43,614. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $48,253 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 $53,380 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,990 |
| This salary | $53,230 |
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 | $43,614 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,950 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,996 |
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 | $51,567 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,414 |
| 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 payroll and timekeeping clerks in New Mexico earn under $53,230 and half over. The published range runs $37,230 at the tenth percentile to $69,990 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 $43,614, worked from $53,230. 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 252 of 485.
- Two cautions on $48,253, the adjusted value of that $53,230 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 252 of 485 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for payroll and timekeeping clerks in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,230 to $69,990; 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 $43,614, on $53,230 for work ranking 252 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 252 of 485 in the state.
- This $48,253 adjusted figure, worked from $53,230, 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 252 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 252 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,230 at the tenth percentile, $69,990 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 $48,253 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 New Mexico adds its own income tax on top — which is why $43,614 of this wage survives to your account.
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 ($37,230 to $69,990) 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 $48,253 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 $43,614 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.