New Mexico and Oklahoma at a glance
New Mexico and Oklahoma share a border, but a paycheck does not travel across it unchanged. A $60,000 salary leaves $29,334 a year after taxes and the four basics in New Mexico and $30,369 in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma comes out ahead by $1,035 a year ($86 a month). The calculation starts from the same gross pay in both states, subtracts federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, then each state's own income tax, and then the population-weighted cost of a one-bedroom rental, groceries, home energy and gasoline across 2,120,246 people in 33 counties in New Mexico and 4,028,634 people in 77 counties in Oklahoma.
Taxes: what each paycheck loses
Federal income tax ($5,072) and FICA ($4,590) on $60,000 are the same on both sides of the border. State income tax takes $1,706 in New Mexico and $2,312 in Oklahoma, which leaves take-home pay of $48,633 and $48,026.
At $100,000
At $100,000 take-home pay is $75,278 in New Mexico and $74,689 in Oklahoma, a difference of $589. The gap does not widen much with income because the two states tax at similar rates.
Living costs
One-bedroom rent averages $1,051 a month in New Mexico and $914 in Oklahoma, so Oklahoma is $136 a month cheaper for housing. Food costs $3,436 a year in both, because the USDA Thrifty Food Plan is a national figure; home energy $1,860 and $1,845, and gasoline $1,397 and $1,406. Together the basics cost $19,299 a year in New Mexico and $17,658 in Oklahoma.
What the Census adds
Median household income is $64,059 in New Mexico and $65,039 in Oklahoma. Homeowners pay a median of $1,731 a year in property tax in New Mexico and $1,599 in Oklahoma. Commuters travel 23.5 minutes each way on average in New Mexico and 22.4 in Oklahoma.
Method
Taxes use the 2025 rules for a single filer with wage income only and the standard deduction. Housing and living costs are county figures from HUD (one-bedroom Fair Market Rent), the USDA Thrifty Food Plan and state energy prices from the Energy Information Administration, averaged across each state's counties and weighted by population, so large counties count more. Local income taxes are not included. Counties differ widely inside every state, so use the county pages for a specific place.