Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $76K, rent takes 26.5% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,281/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers typically earn — is $60K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,617/month. At HUD’s $1,281/month FMR, rent would take 35% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay runs 36% below the national median — $76K here vs. $118K nationally.

Maine pays $76K median vs. the U.S. average of $118K — that’s -36%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 97.7), the purchasing-power equivalent is $78K — below the national median.

The median is $75,960 a year, that works out to about $37 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $60,280, and experienced administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers can clear $147,390. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,825/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,281/month, which eats 26.5% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Maine has a Regional Price Parity of 97.7 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers salary is worth about $77,748 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.