New Mexico · BLS May 2025

Bartender Salary in New Mexico

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 3,790 bartenders working in New Mexico. Here is what they are paid, what the median leaves after federal, state and FICA tax, and what that is worth against local prices.

Median pay · New Mexico

$36,980A year, or $17.78 an hour.
Take-home a month$2,605After federal, state and FICA tax at 15.5%
Worth at national prices$40,103Prices here sit at 92.2 against 100
Against the nation7.7% aboveNational median $34,340
What bartenders earn in New Mexico, May 2025
PercentileAnnualHourly
10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid$25,720$12.37
25th percentile$27,050$13.01
MedianHalf earn more, half less$36,980$17.78
75th percentile$50,630$24.34
90th percentileMost experienced and senior$63,570$30.56
MeanThe average, pulled up by the top$41,500$19.95
How we got this
  1. Median wage in New MexicoBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of bartenders earned more than this, half less.$36,980
  2. Median hourly wagePublished separately by BLS, not divided out of the annual figure.$17.78
  3. Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$2,605 a month at an effective rate of 15.5%.$31,256 a year
  4. Worth at national average pricesPrices in New Mexico sit at 92.2 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$40,103
  5. Against the national medianThe national median is $34,340.7.7% above
  6. Jobs countedA concentration of 0.89 against the nation's 1.00.3,790
What we assumed
  • Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
  • OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
  • Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
  • Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details

Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1

What lands in the bank

A $36,980 salary in New Mexico, for one single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026.

  • Federal income tax. $2,258 a year.
  • State income tax. $638 a year.
  • Social Security and Medicare. $2,829 a year.
  • Left over. $31,256 a year, $2,605 a month, an effective rate of 15.5%.

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What $36,980 is worth in New Mexico

Prices in New Mexico sit at 92.2 against a national average of 100, so $36,980 earned here buys what $40,103 buys at national average prices.

  • Rents. 73.6 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
  • Against local households. The median household in New Mexico takes in $64,059, so this occupation's median is 0.58 times that, on one income.
  • How common the job is here. 11% less concentrated in New Mexico than in the country as a whole.

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Common questions

Bartender pay in New Mexico, answered

How much does a bartender make in New Mexico?

The median wage for bartenders in New Mexico is $36,980 a year, or $17.78 an hour.

Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.

What is the take-home pay for a bartender in New Mexico?

On the median wage of $36,980, one filer taking the standard deduction keeps about $31,256 a year, or roughly $2,605 a month.

That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 15.5%.

New Mexico takes $638 of it in state income tax.

Do bartenders earn more in New Mexico than in the rest of the country?

Yes. The median in New Mexico is 7.7% above the national median of $34,340.

Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in New Mexico sit at 92.2 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.

Is $36,980 a good salary in New Mexico?

It is 0.58 times the median household income of $64,059. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.

Prices in New Mexico run at 92.2 against a national average of 100, with rents at 73.6, so $36,980 here buys about what $40,103 buys at national average prices.

What do the highest-paid bartenders earn in New Mexico?

The top tenth earn $63,570 a year or more, against $25,720 at the bottom tenth.

Experience, specialism, employer and the part of New Mexico someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.

How many bartenders are there in New Mexico?

The survey counted 3,790 of these jobs in New Mexico for May 2025.

That makes the occupation 11% less concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.

Sources

Where this data comes from