Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,825
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$11,615
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,125
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
$61,440
Kept after tax
$49,825
Worth in national money
$55,125
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in New Mexico. The middle earner gets $61,440. That is 36 of 51 states, and about 3.7% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in New Mexico, this sits in the middle: 203 of 485 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $61,440 you keep $49,825 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $55,125 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $61,790, since top earners drag the number up.
- For plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, New Mexico sits in the lower band at $61,440, ranking 36 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 3.7%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters ranks 203 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.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $49,825 after the full tax stack, from $61,440. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $55,125 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $61,790 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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 | $36,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,700 |
| This salary | $61,440 |
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 | $49,825 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,547 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,079 |
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 | $59,297 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,515 |
| 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 $61,440. The published range is $36,160 up to $87,700, 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 $49,825, worked from $61,440. 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 203 of 485.
- One number stands for prices across all of New Mexico, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $55,125, the adjusted value of that $61,440 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 203 of 485 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,160 to $87,700. 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 $49,825, on $61,440 for work ranking 203 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 203 of 485 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New Mexico, so $55,125 — the adjusted value of that $61,440 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 203 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $36,160 and the top tenth $87,700 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $55,125 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 $49,825.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($36,160) and the ninetieth ($87,700) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $55,125 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 $49,825 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.