Protective Service Workers, All Other in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,473
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$12,467
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,054
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
$64,940
Kept after tax
$52,473
Worth in national money
$58,054
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. New Mexico pays this job a middle wage of $64,940, ranking 4 of 51 states and sitting about 52.66% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 175 among 485 occupations New Mexico publishes pay for.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $64,940 the take-home is $52,473; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $58,054 would nationally. The average comes to $74,380, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Mexico's median for protective service workers, all other is $64,940, about 52.66% above the national figure and 4 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 175 of 485 in New Mexico places protective service workers, all other 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.
- Post-tax income for protective service workers, all other in New Mexico, on $64,940, is $52,473 — equivalent to $58,054 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $74,380 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Protective Service Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $126,050 |
| This salary | $64,940 |
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 | $52,473 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,359 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,115 |
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 | $62,592 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,699 |
| 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 $64,940. The published range is $34,480 up to $126,050, 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 $52,473, worked from $64,940. 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 175 of 485.
- Two cautions on $58,054, the adjusted value of that $64,940 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 175 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for protective service workers, all other in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,480 to $126,050. 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 $52,473, on $64,940 for work ranking 175 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 175 of 485 in the state.
- This $58,054 adjusted figure, worked from $64,940, 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 175 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 175 of 485 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 $74,380 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $34,480 at the bottom tenth to $126,050 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $58,054.
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 $52,473.
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 New Mexico is $74,380. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($34,480) and the ninetieth ($126,050) 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 $58,054 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 $52,473 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.