Receptionists and Information Clerks in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,730
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$7,710
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,768
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
$42,440
Kept after tax
$34,730
Worth in national money
$35,768
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $42,440, which ranks 8 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 11.65% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Maine, this one sits low: 426 of 484 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $42,440, tax leaves $34,730, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $35,768 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $42,760, since top earners drag the number up.
- Maine ranks 8 of 51 states publishing a median for receptionists and information clerks, at $42,440 — about 11.65% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Receptionists and information clerks occupies position 426 of 484 in Maine's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Maine sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for receptionists and information clerks — median $42,440 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $34,730 retained, $35,768 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $42,760 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Receptionists and Information Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,140 |
| This salary | $42,440 |
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 Maine | $34,730 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,281 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,567 |
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 | $40,510 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,895 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maine earn less than $42,440. The published range is $35,880 up to $49,140, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Maine the take-home figure of $34,730, from $42,440, 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 426 of 484 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $35,768, the adjusted value of that $42,440 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maine. 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 426 of 484 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for receptionists and information clerks in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,880 to $49,140. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Maine is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $34,730 from $42,440. 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 426 of 484 locally.
- This $35,768 adjusted figure, worked from $42,440, 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 426 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 426 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $35,880 at the tenth percentile, $49,140 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 $35,768 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $34,730 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 ($35,880 to $49,140) 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 $35,768 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 $34,730 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.