Postal Service Mail Carriers in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,931
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$12,079
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,335
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
$59,010
Kept after tax
$46,931
Worth in national money
$48,335
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine is among the lower-paying states for postal service mail carriers. The middle earner takes $59,010, ranking 38 of 51 states — about 2.54% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Postal service mail carriers ranks 253 among 484 occupations Maine publishes pay for.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $59,010, tax leaves $46,931, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $48,335 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $61,820, since top earners drag the number up.
- Maine ranks 38 of 51 for postal service mail carriers, with a median of $59,010 — about 2.54% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 253 of 484 in Maine places postal service mail carriers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Because Maine sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for postal service mail carriers — median $59,010 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $46,931 retained, $48,335 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $61,820 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Carriers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,040 |
| This salary | $59,010 |
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 | $46,931 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,595 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,702 |
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 | $55,696 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,267 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
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 postal service mail carriers in Maine earn under $59,010 and half over. The published range runs $42,390 at the tenth percentile to $81,040 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 Maine's $46,931, worked from $59,010. 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 253 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $48,335, the adjusted value of that $59,010 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 253 of 484 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for postal service mail carriers in Maine, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,390 to $81,040; 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 Maine take-home of $46,931, on $59,010 for work ranking 253 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 253 of 484 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $48,335 — the adjusted value of that $59,010 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 253 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $61,820, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,390 at the tenth percentile, $81,040 at the ninetieth.
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 $48,335 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Maine's own levy, $46,931 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $61,820. 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 ($42,390 to $81,040) 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 $48,335 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 $46,931 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.