Social and Human Service Assistants in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,615
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$9,095
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,769
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
$47,710
Kept after tax
$38,615
Worth in national money
$39,769
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $47,710, which ranks 8 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 3.88% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Maine reports figures for, this is number 353.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $47,710 the take-home is $38,615, which is worth about $39,769 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $49,470, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maine ranks 8 of 51 states publishing a median for social and human service assistants, at $47,710 — about 3.88% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In Maine's occupational distribution, social and human service assistants sits at 353 of 484 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for social and human service assistants on its $47,710 median: $38,615 retained after tax becomes $39,769 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $49,470 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social and Human Service Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,050 |
| This salary | $47,710 |
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 | $38,615 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,515 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,924 |
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 | $45,345 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,327 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maine earn less than $47,710. The published range is $39,770 up to $60,050, 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 Maine's $38,615, worked from $47,710. 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 353 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $39,769, the adjusted value of that $47,710 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 353 of 484 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for social and human service assistants in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,770 to $60,050. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Maine take-home of $38,615, on $47,710 for work ranking 353 of 484 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 353 of 484 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $39,769 — the adjusted value of that $47,710 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 353 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $49,470, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $39,770 at the tenth percentile, $60,050 at the ninetieth.
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 $39,769 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, $38,615 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 $49,470. 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 ($39,770 to $60,050) 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 $39,769 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 $38,615 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.