Protective Service Workers, All Other Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $65K, rent takes 25.9% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,119/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new protective service workers, all others typically earn — is $34K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,069/month. At HUD’s $1,119/month FMR, rent would take 54% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay is 53% above the national median — $65K here vs. $43K nationally.

New Mexico pays $65K median vs. the U.S. average of $43K — that’s +53%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 93.06), the purchasing-power equivalent is $70K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $64,940 a year, that works out to about $31 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $34,480, and experienced protective service workers, all others can clear $126,050. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,324/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,119/month, which eats 25.9% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

New Mexico has a Regional Price Parity of 93.06 (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 protective service workers, all other salary is worth about $69,783 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.