Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,638
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$12,332
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,062
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
$59,970
Kept after tax
$47,638
Worth in national money
$49,062
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Maine pays this job around $59,970 at the midpoint, 23 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Maine, this sits in the middle: 243 of 484 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $59,970, take-home of $47,638 is worth roughly $49,062 in national money. The average comes to $63,370, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors the Maine median is $59,970, ranking 23 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors ranks 243 of 484 occupations in Maine 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.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors, whose median is $59,970, the adjusted figure of $49,062 differs little from $47,638 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $63,370 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $89,220 |
| This salary | $59,970 |
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 | $47,638 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,366 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,768 |
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 | $56,575 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,347 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maine earn less than $59,970. The published range is $43,310 up to $89,220, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $47,638 take-home in Maine comes from $59,970. 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 243 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $49,062 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 243.
- Reported values are medians; for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $43,310 to $89,220. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $47,638, from $59,970, assumes a single Maine 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 243 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $49,062, worked from $59,970, 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 243 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $63,370, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $43,310, the highest tenth $89,220, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $49,062 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Maine then takes its own share, leaving $47,638.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $63,370. 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 ($43,310) and the ninetieth ($89,220) 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 $49,062 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 $47,638 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.
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.