Soil and Plant Scientists in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,609
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$13,871
20.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$61,524
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
$69,480
Kept after tax
$55,609
Worth in national money
$61,524
State rank
30
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. New Mexico is 30 of 46 states for soil and plant scientists, with a middle wage of $69,480. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Soil and plant scientists ranks 151 among 485 occupations New Mexico publishes pay for.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $69,480 you keep $55,609, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $61,524 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $76,290, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Mexico ranks 30 of 46 for soil and plant scientists at $69,480. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 151 of 485 in New Mexico places soil and plant scientists 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.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for soil and plant scientists on $69,480 is $55,609. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $61,524 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 $76,290 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 | $52,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $69,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,860 |
| This salary | $69,480 |
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 | $55,609 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $57,709 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,137 |
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 | $66,496 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,952 |
| 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 soil and plant scientists in New Mexico earn under $69,480 and half over. The published range runs $52,240 at the tenth percentile to $102,860 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In New Mexico the take-home figure of $55,609, from $69,480, 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 151 of 485 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $61,524, the adjusted value of that $69,480 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New Mexico. 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 151 of 485 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for soil and plant scientists in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $52,240 to $102,860; 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 $55,609 from $69,480. 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 151 of 485 locally.
- This $61,524 adjusted figure, worked from $69,480, 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 151 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 151 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 $76,290, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $52,240 and the top tenth $102,860 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $61,524.
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; New Mexico then takes its own share, leaving $55,609.
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 $76,290. 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 ($52,240) and the ninetieth ($102,860) 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 $61,524 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 $55,609 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.