Architectural and Civil Drafters in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,054
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$17,236
22.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,953
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
$76,290
Kept after tax
$59,054
Worth in national money
$56,953
State rank
5
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Connecticut pays this job a middle wage of $76,290, ranking 5 of 50 states and sitting about 15.33% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Connecticut, this sits in the middle: 194 of 482 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $76,290 the take-home is $59,054. But Connecticut costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $56,953 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $73,150, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Connecticut's median for architectural and civil drafters is $76,290, about 15.33% above the national figure and 5 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Architectural and civil drafters ranks 194 of 482 occupations in Connecticut by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Connecticut income tax is $59,054 for architectural and civil drafters, from $76,290. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,953. ⚠️ 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 $73,150 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Architectural and Civil Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $90,590 |
| This salary | $76,290 |
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 | $59,054 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,500 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,364 |
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 | $71,392 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,124 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of architectural and civil drafters in Connecticut earn under $76,290 and half over. The published range runs $51,220 at the tenth percentile to $90,590 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Connecticut's $59,054, worked from $76,290. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 194 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,953 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 194.
- Figures are distribution medians for architectural and civil drafters in Connecticut, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $51,220 to $90,590; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Connecticut take-home of $59,054, on $76,290 for work ranking 194 of 482 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 194 of 482 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,953, worked from $76,290, 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 194 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $73,150, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $51,220 and the top tenth $90,590, so most people doing this work in Connecticut sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Connecticut costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $56,953 rather than its face figure.
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, $59,054 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $73,150. 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 ($51,220 to $90,590) 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 $56,953 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 $59,054 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.