Architectural and Civil Drafters in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,021
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$11,899
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,012
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — 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
$59,920
Kept after tax
$48,021
Worth in national money
$55,012
State rank
45
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Mississippi is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $59,920, ranking 45 of 50 states — about 9.42% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Mississippi, this sits in the middle: 155 of 486 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Mississippi is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $59,920 the take-home is $48,021; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $55,012 would nationally. The average comes to $60,660, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Mississippi ranks 45 of 50 for architectural and civil drafters, with a median of $59,920 — about 9.42% 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 155 of 486 occupations in Mississippi 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.
- Post-tax income for architectural and civil drafters in Mississippi, on $59,920, is $48,021 — equivalent to $55,012 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $60,660 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Architectural and Civil Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,010 |
| This salary | $59,920 |
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 Mississippi | $48,021 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,326 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,223 |
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 | $57,052 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,898 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
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 Mississippi earn under $59,920 and half over. The published range runs $42,740 at the tenth percentile to $81,010 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $48,021 take-home in Mississippi comes from $59,920. 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 155 of 486.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,012 uses one figure for the whole of Mississippi. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 486 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 155.
- Figures are distribution medians for architectural and civil drafters in Mississippi, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,740 to $81,010; 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.
- Retained pay of $48,021, from $59,920, assumes a single Mississippi 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 155 of 486 locally, and the state ranks 45 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,012, worked from $59,920, 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 Mississippi address, on work sitting at 155 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $42,740 and the top tenth $81,010, so most people doing this work in Mississippi sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Mississippi sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $55,012 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Mississippi then takes its own share, leaving $48,021.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,740 to $81,010) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Mississippi rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Mississippi'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 $55,012 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 $48,021 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi 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.