Tool and Die Makers in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,973
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$18,937
23.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,796
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
$79,910
Kept after tax
$60,973
Worth in national money
$62,796
State rank
3
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Maine pays tool and die makers a middle wage of $79,910, ranking 3 of 45 states and sitting about 24.76% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 484 occupations Maine reports, tool and die makers comes in at 121 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $79,910 the take-home is $60,973, which is worth about $62,796 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $73,240, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Maine's median for tool and die makers is $79,910, about 24.76% above the national figure and 3 of 45 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Tool and die makers ranks 121 of 484 occupations by median in Maine, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Maine's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for tool and die makers on its $79,910 median: $60,973 retained after tax becomes $62,796 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $73,240 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Tool and Die Makers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,870 |
| This salary | $79,910 |
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 | $60,973 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,047 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,142 |
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 | $74,119 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,721 |
| 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 $79,910. The published range is $50,510 up to $87,870, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Maine the take-home figure of $60,973, from $79,910, 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 121 of 484 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $62,796, the adjusted value of that $79,910 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 121 of 484 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for tool and die makers in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,510 to $87,870. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Maine is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $60,973 from $79,910. 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 121 of 484 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $62,796 — the adjusted value of that $79,910 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 121 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 $73,240, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $50,510 and the top tenth $87,870, so most people doing this work in Maine sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $62,796.
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 $60,973 of this wage survives to your account.
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 45 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 Maine is $73,240. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($50,510 to $87,870) 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 $62,796 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 $60,973 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.