Architectural and Civil Drafters in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,582
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$10,868
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,093
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$61,450
Kept after tax
$50,582
Worth in national money
$55,093
State rank
40
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Ohio is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $61,450, ranking 40 of 50 states — about 7.11% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 494 occupations Ohio reports figures for, this is number 215.
- Here is where Ohio does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $61,450 you keep $50,582, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $55,093 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $64,030, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Ohio ranks 40 of 50 for architectural and civil drafters, with a median of $61,450 — about 7.11% 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.
- In Ohio's occupational distribution, architectural and civil drafters sits at 215 of 494 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Ohio income tax, retained pay for architectural and civil drafters on $61,450 is $50,582. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $55,093 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 $64,030 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 | $44,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,160 |
| This salary | $61,450 |
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 Ohio | $50,582 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,555 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,039 |
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 | $60,238 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,466 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
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 Ohio earn under $61,450 and half over. The published range runs $44,700 at the tenth percentile to $87,160 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $50,582 take-home in Ohio comes from $61,450. 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 215 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,093 uses one figure for the whole of Ohio. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 494 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 215.
- Figures are distribution medians for architectural and civil drafters in Ohio, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $44,700 to $87,160; 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 $50,582, from $61,450, assumes a single Ohio 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 215 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,093, worked from $61,450, 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 Ohio address, on work sitting at 215 of 494 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 $64,030 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 $44,700 and the top tenth $87,160, so most people doing this work in Ohio sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $55,093.
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 Ohio's own levy, $50,582 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 Ohio is $64,030. 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 ($44,700 to $87,160) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Ohio rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio'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 $55,093 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 $50,582 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.