School Psychologists in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$82,392
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$27,968
25.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$91,155
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
$110,360
Kept after tax
$82,392
Worth in national money
$91,155
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. New Mexico pays school psychologists a middle wage of $110,360, ranking 3 of 51 states and sitting about 14.97% above the national middle.
- Within New Mexico this is well-paid work. Of 485 occupations with published figures in the state, school psychologists ranks 42 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $110,360 you keep $82,392, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $91,155 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $115,950, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Mexico's median for school psychologists is $110,360, about 14.97% above the national figure and 3 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.
- Ranked against every occupation New Mexico publishes a median for, school psychologists sits 42 of 485 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for school psychologists on $110,360 is $82,392. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $91,155 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 $115,950 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: School Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $83,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $110,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $165,830 |
| This salary | $110,360 |
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 New Mexico | $82,392 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $86,468 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,173 |
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 | $104,565 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,002 |
| 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 $110,360. The published range is $83,980 up to $165,830, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In New Mexico the take-home figure of $82,392, from $110,360, 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 42 of 485 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $91,155 uses one figure for the whole of New Mexico. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 485 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 42.
- Reported values are medians; for school psychologists in New Mexico the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $83,980 to $165,830. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for New Mexico is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $82,392 from $110,360. 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 42 of 485 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $91,155, worked from $110,360, 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 New Mexico address, on work sitting at 42 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 $115,950 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $83,980 and the top tenth $165,830 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in New Mexico sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $91,155 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 New Mexico's own levy, $82,392 remains.
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.
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 $115,950. 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 ($83,980) and the ninetieth ($165,830) 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 $91,155 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 $82,392 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.