Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,604
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$13,396
20.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,117
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$64,000
Kept after tax
$50,604
Worth in national money
$52,117
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Maine is 25 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $64,000. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Maine reports figures for, this is number 192.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $64,000, take-home of $50,604 is worth roughly $52,117 in national money. The average comes to $66,570, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine ranks 25 of 51 for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters at $64,000. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Maine's occupational distribution, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters sits at 192 of 484 — 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.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, whose median is $64,000, the adjusted figure of $52,117 differs little from $50,604 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $66,570 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,760 |
| This salary | $64,000 |
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 Maine | $50,604 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,604 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,045 |
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 | $60,266 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,683 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maine earn less than $64,000. The published range is $48,120 up to $80,760, 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 Maine's $50,604, worked from $64,000. 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 192 of 484.
- Two cautions on $52,117, the adjusted value of that $64,000 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maine. 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 192 of 484 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $48,120 to $80,760. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Maine take-home of $50,604, on $64,000 for work ranking 192 of 484 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 192 of 484 in the state.
- This $52,117 adjusted figure, worked from $64,000, 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 192 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 192 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $66,570 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $48,120 and the top tenth $80,760, so most people doing this work in Maine sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Maine is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $52,117 in national terms.
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 Maine adds its own income tax on top — which is why $50,604 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Maine is $66,570. 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 ($48,120 to $80,760) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine'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 $52,117 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 $50,604 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine 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.