Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,168
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$9,652
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,368
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
$49,820
Kept after tax
$40,168
Worth in national money
$41,368
State rank
11
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Maine's middle earner gets $49,820, putting the state 11 of 51 — about 4.8% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 314 among 484 occupations Maine publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $49,820, take-home of $40,168 is worth roughly $41,368 in national money. The average comes to $51,220, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, Maine sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $49,820, ranking 11 of 51 and running about 4.8% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 314 of 484 in Maine places secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, whose median is $49,820, the adjusted figure of $41,368 differs little from $40,168 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $51,220 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,820 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,470 |
| This salary | $49,820 |
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 | $40,168 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,210 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,069 |
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 | $47,278 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,502 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $49,820 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,530 and the ninetieth is $63,470 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $40,168 take-home in Maine comes from $49,820. 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 314 of 484.
- Two cautions on $41,368, the adjusted value of that $49,820 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 314 of 484 locally.
- The Maine median of $49,820 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,530 to $63,470. 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 $40,168, from $49,820, 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 314 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 11 of 51 for it.
- This $41,368 adjusted figure, worked from $49,820, 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 314 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 314 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $39,530 and the top tenth $63,470, so most people doing this work in Maine sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $41,368.
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; Maine then takes its own share, leaving $40,168.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($39,530 to $63,470) 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 $41,368 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 $40,168 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.