Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,406
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$7,944
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,464
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
$43,350
Kept after tax
$35,406
Worth in national money
$36,464
State rank
10
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Maine pays this job a middle wage of $43,350, ranking 10 of 46 states and sitting about 12.22% above the national middle.
- Against 484 occupations Maine publishes, this job lands at 421. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $43,350, take-home of $35,406 is worth roughly $36,464 in national money. The average comes to $43,750, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine's median for switchboard operators, including answering service is $43,350, about 12.22% above the national figure and 10 of 46 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Maine, this work ranks 421 of 484 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for switchboard operators, including answering service, whose median is $43,350, the adjusted figure of $36,464 differs little from $35,406 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $43,750 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,100 |
| This salary | $43,350 |
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 | $35,406 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,012 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,624 |
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 | $41,351 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,963 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $43,350 as a midpoint for Maine, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,190 and the ninetieth is $48,100 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Maine's $35,406, worked from $43,350. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 421 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,464, the adjusted value of that $43,350 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 421 of 484 in the state.
- The Maine median of $43,350 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,190 to $48,100. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Maine take-home of $35,406, on $43,350 for work ranking 421 of 484 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 421 of 484 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $36,464 — the adjusted value of that $43,350 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 421 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,190 at the bottom tenth to $48,100 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $36,464 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 $35,406 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,190 to $48,100) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Maine rather than a national figure.
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 $36,464 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 $35,406 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.