Amusement and Recreation Attendants in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,321
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$5,539
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,278
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$34,860
Kept after tax
$29,321
Worth in national money
$28,278
State rank
12
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Connecticut's middle earner gets $34,860, putting the state 12 of 51 — about 8.43% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Connecticut this is lower-paid work. Of 482 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 477. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $34,860 the take-home is $29,321. But Connecticut costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $28,278 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $37,370, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For amusement and recreation attendants, Connecticut sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $34,860, ranking 12 of 51 and running about 8.43% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Against every occupation Connecticut reports, amusement and recreation attendants ranks 477 of 482, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Connecticut income tax is $29,321 for amusement and recreation attendants, from $34,860. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,278. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $37,370 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Amusement and Recreation Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,030 |
| This salary | $34,860 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Connecticut | $29,321 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,190 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,790 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $33,779 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,374 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,860 as a midpoint for Connecticut, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,010 and the ninetieth is $45,030 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $29,321 take-home in Connecticut comes from $34,860. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 477 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,278 uses one figure for the whole of Connecticut. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 482 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 477.
- The Connecticut median of $34,860 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,010 to $45,030. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $29,321, from $34,860, assumes a single Connecticut filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 477 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 12 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,278, worked from $34,860, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Connecticut address, on work sitting at 477 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $37,370 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $34,010 and the top tenth $45,030, so most people doing this work in Connecticut sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Connecticut run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $28,278 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Connecticut's own levy, $29,321 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Connecticut is $37,370. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,010 to $45,030) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Connecticut rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $28,278 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $29,321 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.