What Cashiers earn in Lea County, NM
The median pay for Cashiers in Lea County, NM is $29,640 per year, which works out to $14.25 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Eastern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area, the labor market that Lea County, NM belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $31,110, which is 5.0% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 4,890 people working in this occupation across the Eastern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Lea County, NM has roughly 73,733 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Cashiers in the Eastern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $26,970 a year ($12.97 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $36,320 or more ($17.46 an hour). That is a gap of $9,350 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $28,360 at the 25th percentile and $32,930 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.3 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $14.25 an hour or $29,640 a year at the median for Lea County, NM. Before any deductions, that is $2,470 a month, $1,140 every two weeks and $570 each week. After taxes the same job pays $12.29 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Cashiers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Cashiers this way: "Receive and disburse money in establishments other than financial institutions. May use electronic scanners, cash registers, or related equipment. May process credit or debit card transactions and validate checks."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits"; "Issue receipts, refunds, credits, or change due to customers"; "Greet customers entering establishments"; "Establish or identify prices of goods, services, or admission, and tabulate bills, using calculators, cash registers, or optical price scanners".
Job outlook for Cashiers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 3,106,300 jobs in 2025 to 2,905,700 in 2035, a change of -6.5%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 521,300 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 16.8% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $32,880 for this occupation; the Lea County, NM median of $29,640 is 9.9% below it.
How pay in Lea County, NM compares
Compared with the New Mexico average
Pay in Lea County, NM runs $599 below the New Mexico average of $30,239, a gap of 2.0%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of New Mexico would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within New Mexico, the highest median we track for this job is $30,540 in Bernalillo County, NM.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Cashiers is $32,032 across the contiguous United States. At $29,640, Lea County, NM pays $2,392 less, which is 7.5% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Lea County, NM
Among the 332 occupations with published wages in Lea County, NM, Cashiers ranks number 313 by median pay, ahead of about 6% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers at $50,020 a year, which is $20,380 more than the median for Cashiers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Cashiers earning the Lea County, NM median of $29,640, they add up to $4,071. The result is $25,569 of take-home pay a year ($2,131 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $14 goes to taxes and $86 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 13.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $13,890. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $1,428, an effective 4.8% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $1,838 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $430. FICA totals $2,267, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in New Mexico
New Mexico income tax on this salary is $375 a year, or 1.3% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 26% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $31 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Lea County, NM
IRS Statistics of Income data for Lea County, NM show an average adjusted gross income of $72,972 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 11.8% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 4.6%, compared with the 4.8% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Lea County, NM
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Lea County, NM: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $25,569 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Lea County, NM, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,117 a month ($13,404 a year), and at $1,327 for two bedrooms. For Cashiers, a one-bedroom absorbs 52.4% of take-home pay and 45.2% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 11.6% of gross pay for Cashiers in Lea County, NM. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using New Mexico residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,500 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $360, for $1,860 in total. Gasoline in New Mexico averages $3.02 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,397.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $20,096 a year in Lea County, NM. Subtract that from $25,569 of take-home pay and $5,473 remains, which is $456 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 18.5% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Lea County, NM
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Lea County, NM: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Lea County, NM, set beside the New Mexico and national medians.
Property taxes in Lea County, NM
Homeowners in Lea County, NM pay a median of $879 a year in real estate taxes, 49% below the New Mexico median of $1,731 and 72% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $184,000, the median tax bill is 0.48% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Cashiers median of $29,640, a tax bill of that size would equal 3.0% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Lea County, NM
Renters in Lea County, NM pay a median gross rent of $1,101 a month in the Census survey, 3% above the New Mexico median of $1,067. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,117 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $184,000, 26% below the New Mexico median of $248,100. Median household income is $68,015, 6% above the New Mexico median of $64,059, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 19.7% of that income.
Commuting in Lea County, NM
Workers in Lea County, NM who travel to a workplace spend an average of 24.4 minutes each way, 4% above the New Mexico average of 23.5. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.1 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 3.7% of workers in Lea County, NM work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Cashiers afford to live in Lea County, NM?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $29,640 that ceiling is $741 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,117 is $376 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $21.48 an hour; the median for Cashiers is $14.25, which is 34% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $12.29 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 21.0 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,327 a month means $664 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,442 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $10,915.
How fast you can save
At $456 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 22 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 44 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Cashiers pay in Lea County, NM
How much do Cashiers make per hour in Lea County, NM?
The median is $14.25 per hour, based on $29,640 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $12.97 at the 10th percentile to $17.46 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Cashiers take home after taxes in Lea County, NM?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $29,640 becomes $25,569 a year. That is $2,131 a month, $983 every two weeks or $492 a week.
How much tax do Cashiers pay in Lea County, NM?
Total taxes are $4,071 a year, an effective rate of 13.7%: $1,428 federal income tax, $2,267 FICA and $375 New Mexico income tax.
Do Cashiers earn more in Lea County, NM than elsewhere in New Mexico?
No. The local median of $29,640 is -2.0% versus the New Mexico average of $30,239, a difference of $599 a year.
Can Cashiers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Lea County, NM?
A one-bedroom costs $1,117 a month against take-home pay of $2,131, which is 52.4% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $741 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Cashiers in Lea County, NM?
About $456 a month ($5,473 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $20,096 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Lea County, NM at the 30% guideline?
$21.48 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $13,404 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Cashiers is $14.25.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Eastern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the New Mexico rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.