Soil and Plant Scientists in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,917
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$18,333
23.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$61,708
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
$78,250
Kept after tax
$59,917
Worth in national money
$61,708
State rank
17
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maine sits in the middle of the pack for soil and plant scientists. The median is $78,250, ranking 17 of 46 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Maine reports figures for, this is number 130.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $78,250 the take-home is $59,917, which is worth about $61,708 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $84,180, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maine occupies the middle band for soil and plant scientists: a median of $78,250, ranking 17 of 46. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Maine's occupational distribution, soil and plant scientists sits at 130 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 soil and plant scientists on its $78,250 median: $59,917 retained after tax becomes $61,708 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $84,180 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Soil and Plant Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,760 |
| This salary | $78,250 |
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 | $59,917 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,879 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,027 |
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 | $72,618 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,563 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
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 soil and plant scientists in Maine earn under $78,250 and half over. The published range runs $49,480 at the tenth percentile to $128,760 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Maine the take-home figure of $59,917, from $78,250, 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 130 of 484 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $61,708 uses one figure for the whole of Maine. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 484 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 130.
- Figures are distribution medians for soil and plant scientists in Maine, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,480 to $128,760; 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 Maine is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $59,917 from $78,250. 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 130 of 484 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $61,708, worked from $78,250, 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 Maine address, on work sitting at 130 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 $84,180, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $49,480 at the bottom tenth to $128,760 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $61,708 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Maine adds its own income tax on top — which is why $59,917 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $84,180. 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 ($49,480) and the ninetieth ($128,760) 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?
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 $61,708 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 $59,917 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.
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.