New Mexico and Texas at a glance
New Mexico and Texas 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 $28,311 in Texas.
New Mexico comes out ahead by $1,022 a year ($85 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 30,188,424 people in 254 counties in Texas.
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. Texas does not tax wages, while New Mexico takes $1,706 of a $60,000 salary in state income tax, so take-home pay is $1,706 higher in Texas.
At $100,000
At $100,000 take-home pay is $75,278 in New Mexico and $78,901 in Texas, a difference of $3,623. The gap widens with income because graduated state brackets take a growing share.
Living costs
One-bedroom rent averages $1,051 a month in New Mexico and $1,247 in Texas, so New Mexico is $196 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 $2,297, and gasoline $1,397 and $1,334. Together the basics cost $19,299 a year in New Mexico and $22,027 in Texas.
What the Census adds
Median household income is $64,059 in New Mexico and $78,476 in Texas. Homeowners pay a median of $1,731 a year in property tax in New Mexico and $4,232 in Texas. Commuters travel 23.5 minutes each way on average in New Mexico and 26.7 in Texas.
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.