Prices, pay, taxes, homes and family budgets, county by county, from the same official data the site's calculators use.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures price levels in every state against a national average of 100. New Mexico scores 92.2 overall, so a $75,000 salary at average US prices buys what $69,159 buys here. Compare any salary with another state.
| Price level | New Mexico (US = 100) | Rank, most expensive first |
|---|---|---|
| Everything | 92.2 | 37th of 51 |
| Rents | 73.6 | 37th of 51 |
| Goods | 96.1 | — |
| Other services | 98.5 | — |
Home electricity averaged 14.20 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2024, against 17.06 across all states. A gallon of regular gas cost $4.00 at the end of August 2026, against $4.12.
Across all 870,970 jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in New Mexico, the median pay is $47,210 a year, or $22.70 an hour; that ranks 42nd of the 50 states and DC. One worker in ten earns less than $28,760 and one in ten more than $110,070.
New Mexico taxes wages in brackets, with a top rate of 5.9%. The brackets in New Mexico. A single filer on the median $47,210, with no retirement or health deductions, takes home about $38,303 a year, or $1,473 every two weeks, after $3,485 of federal income tax, $3,612 of Social Security and Medicare and $1,810 of state income tax. Work out your own paycheck in New Mexico.
The five occupations employing the most people, with their median annual pay:
| Occupation | Jobs | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 38,910 | $28,520 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 28,250 | $28,700 |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 25,430 | $46,450 |
| Retail Salespersons | 23,800 | $33,300 |
| Cashiers | 19,020 | $30,120 |
Of the 20 largest occupations, the best paid are general and operations managers ($98,630), registered nurses ($94,340), business operations specialists, all other ($79,100). See what common jobs pay in every state.
Across the 30 New Mexico counties with their own Zillow home value, the median typical home is worth $224,218, and across the 15 with their own rent figure the median typical rent is $1,475 a month. A typical home costs 3.44 years of the county's median family income, at the median county.
With 10% down at 7.03%, the average 30-year rate on September 24, 2026, that home costs about $1,820 a month with tax, insurance and mortgage insurance, which takes $77,998 a year of income under the usual 28% guideline. The median family can afford its own county's typical home in 33.3% of New Mexico's counties, against 44.9% of counties nationally. Try it with your own income.
At the median county, home values changed +0.8% over the past year and +8.4% over five years, and rents +4.5% over the past year.
The most expensive New Mexico counties are Los Alamos County ($588,045), Santa Fe County ($562,474) and Taos County ($437,254); the least expensive are De Baca County ($95,587), Quay County ($99,036) and Hidalgo County ($109,501).
The Economic Policy Institute prices what a modest but adequate standard of living costs in every county: housing, food, transport, healthcare, childcare, other necessities and taxes. In the median New Mexico county, that comes to $46,328 a year for one adult and $106,515 for two adults and two children, of which $17,126 is childcare. The national averages are $47,367 and $101,771. Median family income in the median county is $65,605.
| Two adults, two children | Per year, median county | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $11,196 | $933 |
| Food | $11,683 | $974 |
| Transportation | $17,963 | $1,497 |
| Healthcare | $26,501 | $2,208 |
| Childcare | $17,126 | $1,427 |
| Other necessities | $7,176 | $598 |
| Taxes | $15,264 | $1,272 |
Each line is its own median across counties, so the lines do not add up exactly to the total.
The Department of Education's College Scorecard lists 45 colleges in New Mexico, 28 of them public. The median public college reports a cost of attendance of $15,434 a year, covering tuition, housing, books and other expenses. Ten years after enrolling, the median school's former students earn $38,550. Compare degrees and schools.
| Bernalillo County | $351,856 | +1.4% | $1,475 | $84,404 | $103,516 |
| Catron County | $223,024 | +9.9% | — | $65,121 | $111,502 |
| Chaves County | $173,571 | +0.7% | $1,273 | $61,022 | $104,909 |
| Cibola County | $159,697 | +5.9% | — | $64,110 | $103,513 |
| Colfax County | $246,944 | −3.6% | — | $65,095 | $109,726 |
| Curry County | $159,954 | −0.5% | $1,272 | $68,067 | $106,458 |
| De Baca County | $95,587 | +0.7% | — | $82,949 | $108,119 |
| Dona Ana County | $288,904 | −0.4% | $1,452 | $62,040 | $106,042 |
| Eddy County | $249,097 | +1.6% | $1,660 | $97,423 | $110,958 |
| Grant County | $185,642 | −5.9% | $1,400 | $74,439 | $105,771 |
| Guadalupe County | — | — | — | $60,956 | $106,992 |
| Harding County | — | — | — | $88,889 | $111,919 |
| Hidalgo County | $109,501 | −10.8% | — | $65,605 | $107,327 |
| Lea County | $201,785 | +2.2% | $1,417 | $79,139 | $113,475 |
| Lincoln County | $344,933 | −2.3% | — | $69,758 | $109,166 |
| Los Alamos County | $588,045 | −1.1% | $2,749 | $165,685 | $129,152 |
| Luna County | $165,352 | +5.6% | — | $51,178 | $103,368 |
| McKinley County | $220,425 | −1.8% | — | $49,991 | $105,389 |
| Mora County | — | — | — | $52,190 | $108,977 |
| Otero County | $231,296 | −2.8% | $1,544 | $68,074 | $105,352 |
| Quay County | $99,036 | −6.7% | — | $51,273 | $105,887 |
| Rio Arriba County | $339,893 | +2.2% | — | $69,360 | $104,942 |
| Roosevelt County | $144,060 | +0.9% | $975 | $66,721 | $106,515 |
| San Juan County | $276,696 | +6.7% | $1,246 | $61,739 | $109,928 |
| San Miguel County | $253,344 | +6.9% | — | $63,727 | $104,294 |
| Sandoval County | $377,236 | +0.4% | $1,876 | $94,544 | $120,977 |
| Santa Fe County | $562,474 | +0.8% | $1,883 | $89,497 | $118,186 |
| Sierra County | $184,655 | +2.5% | — | $57,362 | $105,701 |
| Socorro County | $205,402 | +2.5% | — | $59,010 | $106,950 |
| Taos County | $437,254 | −0.6% | $2,744 | $78,139 | $114,721 |
| Torrance County | $225,411 | +8.1% | — | $65,100 | $100,201 |
| Union County | $116,932 | −9.6% | — | $61,613 | $106,106 |
| Valencia County | $319,670 | +3.2% | $1,854 | $66,569 | $101,989 |
A dash means the source publishes no figure for that county. Home values and rents are Zillow's own county figures only; counties Zillow does not cover are left blank rather than filled with a state average.
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Cost of living · Income tax · Child care costs
Run the numbersTake-home pay in New Mexico · What a salary is worth in New Mexico · How much rent you can afford · What a car costs in New Mexico
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County figures are medians across New Mexico's counties, each counting once, so they describe the spread of places rather than of people. Property tax and insurance vary widely; the calculators let you use your own.