Retail Salespersons in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,472
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$4,828
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,500
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
$33,300
Kept after tax
$28,472
Worth in national money
$31,500
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. New Mexico is 33 of 51 states for retail salespersons, with a middle wage of $33,300. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within New Mexico this is lower-paid work. Of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, retail salespersons ranks 455. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $33,300 you keep $28,472, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $31,500 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $35,500, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Mexico ranks 33 of 51 for retail salespersons at $33,300. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation New Mexico reports, retail salespersons ranks 455 of 485, 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.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for retail salespersons on $33,300 is $28,472. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $31,500 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $35,500 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,870 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $33,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,370 |
| This salary | $33,300 |
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 | $28,472 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,937 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,723 |
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 | $32,722 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,083 |
| 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 $33,300. The published range is $27,870 up to $45,370, 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 $28,472, worked from $33,300. 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 455 of 485.
- Two cautions on $31,500, the adjusted value of that $33,300 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 455 of 485 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for retail salespersons in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,870 to $45,370. 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 $28,472, on $33,300 for work ranking 455 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 455 of 485 in the state.
- This $31,500 adjusted figure, worked from $33,300, 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 455 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 455 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $35,500, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $27,870 and the top tenth $45,370, so most people doing this work in New Mexico sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. New Mexico is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $31,500 in national terms.
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 $28,472.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $35,500. 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 ($27,870 to $45,370) 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 $31,500 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 $28,472 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.