Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$86,463
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$30,117
25.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$95,659
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
$116,580
Kept after tax
$86,463
Worth in national money
$95,659
State rank
8
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. New Mexico's middle earner gets $116,580, putting the state 8 of 46 — about 11.77% ahead of the national figure.
- Within New Mexico this is well-paid work. Of 485 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 38 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $116,580 you keep $86,463, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $95,659 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $122,520, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For software quality assurance analysts and testers, New Mexico sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $116,580, ranking 8 of 46 and running about 11.77% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation New Mexico publishes a median for, software quality assurance analysts and testers sits 38 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 software quality assurance analysts and testers on $116,580 is $86,463. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $95,659 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 $122,520 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $77,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $116,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $160,430 |
| This salary | $116,580 |
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 | $86,463 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $90,844 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,174 |
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 | $110,352 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,003 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $116,580 as a midpoint for New Mexico, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $77,760 and the ninetieth is $160,430 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $86,463 take-home in New Mexico comes from $116,580. 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 38 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $95,659 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 38.
- The New Mexico median of $116,580 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $77,760 to $160,430. 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 $86,463, from $116,580, assumes a single New Mexico 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 38 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 46 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $95,659, worked from $116,580, 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 38 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 $122,520, 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 $77,760 and the top tenth $160,430, so most people doing this work in New Mexico sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $95,659 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, $86,463 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $122,520. 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 ($77,760 to $160,430) 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 $95,659 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 $86,463 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.