Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,413
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$7,947
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,472
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
$43,360
Kept after tax
$35,413
Worth in national money
$36,472
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Maine pays this job a middle wage of $43,360, 40 of 51 states and about 12.74% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Maine this is lower-paid work. Of 484 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 420. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $43,360, take-home of $35,413 is worth roughly $36,472 in national money. The average comes to $44,840, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine's $43,360 median for refuse and recyclable material collectors places it 40 of 51 states, about 12.74% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Maine reports, refuse and recyclable material collectors ranks 420 of 484, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for refuse and recyclable material collectors, whose median is $43,360, the adjusted figure of $36,472 differs little from $35,413 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $44,840 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,950 |
| This salary | $43,360 |
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 | $35,413 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,020 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,624 |
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 | $41,360 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,964 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $43,360 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,590 and the ninetieth is $61,950 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $35,413 take-home in Maine comes from $43,360. 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 420 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,472 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 420.
- The Maine median of $43,360 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,590 to $61,950. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $35,413, from $43,360, assumes a single Maine 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 420 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,472, worked from $43,360, 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 420 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 $44,840, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $34,590 at the bottom tenth to $61,950 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $36,472 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, $35,413 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 $44,840. 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 ($34,590 to $61,950) 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 $36,472 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 $35,413 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.