Registered Nurses in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,906
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$22,434
23.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$79,555
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
$94,340
Kept after tax
$71,906
Worth in national money
$79,555
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. New Mexico is 24 of 51 states for registered nurses, with a middle wage of $94,340. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in New Mexico. It ranks 76 out of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $94,340 the take-home is $71,906; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $79,555 would nationally. The average comes to $95,290, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New Mexico ranks 24 of 51 for registered nurses at $94,340. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within New Mexico, registered nurses ranks 76 of 485 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for registered nurses in New Mexico, on $94,340, is $71,906 — equivalent to $79,555 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 $95,290 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Registered Nurses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $74,300 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $94,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,540 |
| This salary | $94,340 |
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 | $71,906 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $75,198 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,171 |
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 | $89,661 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,998 |
| 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 $94,340. The published range is $74,300 up to $123,540, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $71,906 take-home in New Mexico comes from $94,340. 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 76 of 485.
- Two cautions on $79,555, the adjusted value of that $94,340 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 76 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for registered nurses in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $74,300 to $123,540. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $71,906, from $94,340, 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 76 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 51 for it.
- This $79,555 adjusted figure, worked from $94,340, 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 76 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 76 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $74,300 at the bottom tenth to $123,540 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 $79,555.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and New Mexico adds its own income tax on top — which is why $71,906 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($74,300 to $123,540) 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 $79,555 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 $71,906 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.