Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,507
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$16,433
21.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,943
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
$76,940
Kept after tax
$60,507
Worth in national money
$66,943
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $76,940, which ranks 17 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 3.61% above the national middle.
- Against other work in New Mexico, this sits in the middle: 126 of 485 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where New Mexico does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $76,940 you keep $60,507, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $66,943 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $74,670, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- New Mexico ranks 17 of 51 states publishing a median for special education teachers, secondary school, at $76,940 — about 3.61% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Special education teachers, secondary school ranks 126 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.
- After federal, FICA and New Mexico income tax, retained pay for special education teachers, secondary school on $76,940 is $60,507. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $66,943 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 $74,670 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $90,580 |
| This salary | $76,940 |
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 | $60,507 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,957 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,155 |
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 | $73,457 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,977 |
| 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 special education teachers, secondary school in New Mexico earn under $76,940 and half over. The published range runs $60,190 at the tenth percentile to $90,580 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $60,507 take-home in New Mexico comes from $76,940. 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 126 of 485.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $66,943 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 126.
- Figures are distribution medians for special education teachers, secondary school in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $60,190 to $90,580; 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.
- Retained pay of $60,507, from $76,940, 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 126 of 485 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,943, worked from $76,940, 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 126 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $60,190 at the tenth percentile, $90,580 at the ninetieth.
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 $66,943.
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 $60,507 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 ($60,190 to $90,580) 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 $66,943 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 $60,507 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.