Postal Service Clerks in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,228
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$12,902
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,700
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
$62,130
Kept after tax
$49,228
Worth in national money
$50,700
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine sits in the middle of the pack for postal service clerks. The median is $62,130, ranking 22 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Maine reports figures for, this is number 215.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $62,130 the take-home is $49,228, which is worth about $50,700 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $60,360, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Maine occupies the middle band for postal service clerks: a median of $62,130, ranking 22 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Maine's occupational distribution, postal service clerks sits at 215 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.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for postal service clerks on its $62,130 median: $49,228 retained after tax becomes $50,700 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $60,360 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,030 |
| This salary | $62,130 |
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 | $49,228 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,101 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,917 |
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 | $58,553 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,527 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $62,130 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,600 and the ninetieth is $75,030 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Maine the take-home figure of $49,228, from $62,130, 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 215 of 484 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,700 uses one figure for the whole of Maine. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 484 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 215.
- The Maine median of $62,130 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,600 to $75,030. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Maine is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $49,228 from $62,130. 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 215 of 484 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,700, worked from $62,130, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Maine address, on work sitting at 215 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,600 at the tenth percentile, $75,030 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Maine sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $50,700 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 Maine adds its own income tax on top — which is why $49,228 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,600 to $75,030) 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 $50,700 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 $49,228 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.