Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,165
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$16,255
21.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,565
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
$76,420
Kept after tax
$60,165
Worth in national money
$66,565
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. New Mexico's middle earner gets $76,420, putting the state 13 of 51 — about 17.35% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in New Mexico, this sits in the middle: 130 of 485 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- New Mexico is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $76,420 the take-home is $60,165; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $66,565 would nationally. The average lands at $74,740, below the middle of the range.
- For special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school, New Mexico sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $76,420, ranking 13 of 51 and running about 17.35% 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.
- Special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school ranks 130 of 485 occupations in New Mexico by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in New Mexico, on $76,420, is $60,165 — equivalent to $66,565 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $74,740 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,460 |
| This salary | $76,420 |
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 | $60,165 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,591 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,154 |
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 | $72,971 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,975 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,420 as a midpoint for New Mexico, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $58,110 and the ninetieth is $100,460 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $60,165 take-home in New Mexico comes from $76,420. 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 130 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $66,565 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 130.
- The New Mexico median of $76,420 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $58,110 to $100,460. 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 $60,165, from $76,420, 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 130 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 13 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,565, worked from $76,420, 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 130 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $58,110 at the bottom tenth to $100,460 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. New Mexico is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $66,565 in national terms.
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 New Mexico adds its own income tax on top — which is why $60,165 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($58,110 to $100,460) 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 $66,565 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 $60,165 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.
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.