Atmospheric and Space Scientists in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,912
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$29,388
26.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$88,826
Kansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kansas — 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
$109,300
Kept after tax
$79,912
Worth in national money
$88,826
State rank
13
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kansas is one of the better-paying states for atmospheric and space scientists. The middle earner takes $109,300, which ranks 13 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 10.33% above the national middle.
- Within Kansas this is well-paid work. Of 488 occupations with published figures in the state, atmospheric and space scientists ranks 35 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Kansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $109,300 you keep $79,912, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $88,826 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $107,280, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Kansas ranks 13 of 47 states publishing a median for atmospheric and space scientists, at $109,300 — about 10.33% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Kansas publishes a median for, atmospheric and space scientists sits 35 of 488 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Kansas income tax, retained pay for atmospheric and space scientists on $109,300 is $79,912. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $88,826 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 $107,280 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Atmospheric and Space Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $109,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $139,210 |
| This salary | $109,300 |
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 Kansas | $79,912 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $85,723 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$611 |
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 | $101,041 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$844 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 atmospheric and space scientists in Kansas earn under $109,300 and half over. The published range runs $49,940 at the tenth percentile to $139,210 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $79,912 take-home in Kansas comes from $109,300. 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 35 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $88,826 uses one figure for the whole of Kansas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 35.
- Figures are distribution medians for atmospheric and space scientists in Kansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,940 to $139,210; 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 $79,912, from $109,300, assumes a single Kansas 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 35 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 13 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $88,826, worked from $109,300, 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 Kansas address, on work sitting at 35 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $49,940 and the top tenth $139,210 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Kansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $88,826 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Kansas's own levy, $79,912 remains.
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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($49,940) and the ninetieth ($139,210) 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?
Kansas'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 $88,826 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 $79,912 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kansas 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.