Architectural and Civil Drafters in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,444
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$12,396
20.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,082
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$61,840
Kept after tax
$49,444
Worth in national money
$54,082
State rank
38
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Idaho is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $61,840, ranking 38 of 50 states — about 6.52% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Idaho, this sits in the middle: 181 of 476 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Idaho does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $61,840 you keep $49,444, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $54,082 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $66,900, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Idaho ranks 38 of 50 for architectural and civil drafters, with a median of $61,840 — about 6.52% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Architectural and civil drafters ranks 181 of 476 occupations in Idaho 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.
- After federal, FICA and Idaho income tax, retained pay for architectural and civil drafters on $61,840 is $49,444. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $54,082 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $66,900 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Architectural and Civil Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $97,080 |
| This salary | $61,840 |
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 Idaho | $49,444 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,868 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$705 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $58,823 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$853 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Idaho earn less than $61,840. The published range is $45,490 up to $97,080, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Idaho's $49,444, worked from $61,840. 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 181 of 476.
- One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $54,082, the adjusted value of that $61,840 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 181 of 476 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for architectural and civil drafters in Idaho the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,490 to $97,080. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Idaho take-home of $49,444, on $61,840 for work ranking 181 of 476 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 181 of 476 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $54,082 — the adjusted value of that $61,840 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 181 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $66,900, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $45,490, the highest tenth $97,080, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Idaho is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $54,082 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Idaho then takes its own share, leaving $49,444.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 Idaho is $66,900. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($45,490) and the ninetieth ($97,080) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Idaho's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $54,082 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $49,444 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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.