Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,578
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$10,892
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,639
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
$58,470
Kept after tax
$47,578
Worth in national money
$52,639
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $58,470, ranking 23 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 221 among 485 occupations New Mexico publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $58,470 you keep $47,578 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $52,639 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $59,420, since top earners drag the number up.
- New Mexico occupies the middle band for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators: a median of $58,470, ranking 23 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.
- Position 221 of 485 in New Mexico places postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators 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.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $47,578 after the full tax stack, from $58,470. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $52,639 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $59,420 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,280 |
| This salary | $58,470 |
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 | $47,578 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,161 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,049 |
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 | $56,501 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,478 |
| 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 postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in New Mexico earn under $58,470 and half over. The published range runs $42,600 at the tenth percentile to $75,280 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $47,578 take-home in New Mexico comes from $58,470. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 221 of 485.
- Two cautions on $52,639, the adjusted value of that $58,470 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 221 of 485 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,600 to $75,280; 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.
- Retained pay of $47,578, from $58,470, assumes a single New Mexico filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 221 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 51 for it.
- This $52,639 adjusted figure, worked from $58,470, 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 221 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 221 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,600 at the bottom tenth to $75,280 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $52,639.
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 New Mexico's own levy, $47,578 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,600 to $75,280) 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 $52,639 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 $47,578 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.