Transportation Security Screeners in New Mexico
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,618
after federal, FICA and New Mexico tax
Tax takes
$12,192
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,108
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
$63,810
Kept after tax
$51,618
Worth in national money
$57,108
State rank
23
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- New Mexico sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $63,810, ranking 23 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 485 occupations New Mexico reports figures for, this is number 182.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $63,810 you keep $51,618 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $57,108 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $59,530.
- New Mexico occupies the middle band for transportation security screeners: a median of $63,810, ranking 23 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In New Mexico's occupational distribution, transportation security screeners sits at 182 of 485 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in New Mexico is $51,618 after the full tax stack, from $63,810. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $57,108 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $59,530 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Transportation Security Screeners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,930 |
| This salary | $63,810 |
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 | $51,618 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,451 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,103 |
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 | $61,528 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,544 |
| 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 transportation security screeners in New Mexico earn under $63,810 and half over. The published range runs $42,560 at the tenth percentile to $67,930 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Mexico's $51,618, worked from $63,810. 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 182 of 485.
- Two cautions on $57,108, the adjusted value of that $63,810 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New Mexico. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 182 of 485 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for transportation security screeners in New Mexico, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,560 to $67,930; 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.
- The New Mexico take-home of $51,618, on $63,810 for work ranking 182 of 485 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 182 of 485 in the state.
- This $57,108 adjusted figure, worked from $63,810, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 182 of 485 in the state. The occupation ranks 182 of 485 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $59,530, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,560 at the tenth percentile, $67,930 at the ninetieth.
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 $57,108 in national terms.
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; New Mexico then takes its own share, leaving $51,618.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 New Mexico is $59,530. 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 ($42,560 to $67,930) 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 $57,108 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 $51,618 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.
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.