Physical Therapist Aides in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,469
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$4,521
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,391
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
$31,990
Kept after tax
$27,469
Worth in national money
$30,391
State rank
31
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico sits in the middle of the pack for physical therapist aides. The median is $31,990, ranking 31 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in New Mexico, this one sits low: 457 of 485 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $31,990 you keep $27,469 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $30,391 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $37,450, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Mexico occupies the middle band for physical therapist aides: a median of $31,990, ranking 31 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Physical therapist aides occupies position 457 of 485 in New Mexico's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $27,469 after the full tax stack, from $31,990. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $30,391 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $37,450 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Physical Therapist Aides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,860 |
| This salary | $31,990 |
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 | $27,469 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,884 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,696 |
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 | $31,474 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,051 |
| 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 physical therapist aides in New Mexico earn under $31,990 and half over. The published range runs $29,090 at the tenth percentile to $47,860 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In New Mexico the take-home figure of $27,469, from $31,990, 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 457 of 485 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $30,391, the adjusted value of that $31,990 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 457 of 485 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for physical therapist aides in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,090 to $47,860; 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.
- Take-home for New Mexico is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $27,469 from $31,990. 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 457 of 485 locally.
- This $30,391 adjusted figure, worked from $31,990, 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 457 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 457 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 $37,450, 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 — $29,090 at the tenth percentile, $47,860 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $30,391.
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 $27,469 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $37,450. 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 ($29,090 to $47,860) 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 $30,391 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 $27,469 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.