Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,032
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$16,708
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,524
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
$77,740
Kept after tax
$61,032
Worth in national money
$67,524
State rank
33
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in New Mexico. The middle earner gets $77,740. That is 33 of 46 states, and about 7.77% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in New Mexico. It ranks 121 out of 485 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $77,740 you keep $61,032 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $67,524 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $89,920, since top earners drag the number up.
- For sociology teachers, postsecondary, New Mexico sits in the lower band at $77,740, ranking 33 of 46 and trailing the national median by about 7.77%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within New Mexico, sociology teachers, postsecondary ranks 121 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.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $61,032 after the full tax stack, from $77,740. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $67,524 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $89,920 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $126,680 |
| This salary | $77,740 |
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 | $61,032 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,520 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,157 |
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 | $74,203 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,980 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of sociology teachers, postsecondary in New Mexico earn under $77,740 and half over. The published range runs $58,390 at the tenth percentile to $126,680 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In New Mexico the take-home figure of $61,032, from $77,740, 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 121 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 $67,524 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 121.
- Figures are distribution medians for sociology teachers, postsecondary in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $58,390 to $126,680; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for New Mexico is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $61,032 from $77,740. 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 121 of 485 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $67,524, worked from $77,740, 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 121 of 485 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 $89,920, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $58,390, the highest tenth $126,680, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $67,524 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, $61,032 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $89,920. 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 ($58,390) and the ninetieth ($126,680) 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 $67,524 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 $61,032 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.