Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,995
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$8,515
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,101
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
$45,510
Kept after tax
$36,995
Worth in national money
$38,101
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Maine's middle earner gets $45,510, putting the state 6 of 51 — about 19.29% ahead of the national figure.
- Against 484 occupations Maine publishes, this job lands at 393. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $45,510, tax leaves $36,995, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $38,101 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $46,580, since top earners drag the number up.
- For veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers, Maine sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $45,510, ranking 6 of 51 and running about 19.29% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within Maine, this work ranks 393 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.
- Because Maine sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers — median $45,510 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $36,995 retained, $38,101 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $46,580 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,790 |
| This salary | $45,510 |
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 | $36,995 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,747 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,772 |
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 | $43,330 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,143 |
| 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 $45,510. The published range is $37,380 up to $59,790, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Maine's $36,995, worked from $45,510. 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 393 of 484.
- Two cautions on $38,101, the adjusted value of that $45,510 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Maine. 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 393 of 484 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,380 to $59,790. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Maine take-home of $36,995, on $45,510 for work ranking 393 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 393 of 484 in the state.
- This $38,101 adjusted figure, worked from $45,510, 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 393 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 393 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $37,380 at the bottom tenth to $59,790 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Maine is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $38,101 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; Maine then takes its own share, leaving $36,995.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,380 to $59,790) 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 $38,101 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 $36,995 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.