Atmospheric and Space Scientists in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$68,620
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$16,370
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,615
Texas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Texas — 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
$84,990
Kept after tax
$68,620
Worth in national money
$70,615
State rank
35
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Texas is among the lower-paying states for atmospheric and space scientists. The middle earner takes $84,990, ranking 35 of 47 states — about 14.21% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within Texas this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, atmospheric and space scientists ranks 94 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $84,990 the take-home is $68,620, which is worth about $70,615 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $86,470, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Texas ranks 35 of 47 for atmospheric and space scientists, with a median of $84,990 — about 14.21% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Texas publishes a median for, atmospheric and space scientists sits 94 of 493 — 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.
- Texas's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for atmospheric and space scientists on its $84,990 median: $68,620 retained after tax becomes $70,615 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $86,470 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Atmospheric and Space Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $84,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $131,750 |
| This salary | $84,990 |
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 Texas | $68,620 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $68,620 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,285 |
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 | $84,990 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,301 |
| Prices in Florida | 103 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Texas earn less than $84,990. The published range is $46,370 up to $131,750, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $68,620 take-home in Texas comes from $84,990. 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 94 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $70,615 uses one figure for the whole of Texas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 94.
- Reported values are medians; for atmospheric and space scientists in Texas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,370 to $131,750. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $68,620, from $84,990, assumes a single Texas 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 94 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 35 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $70,615, worked from $84,990, 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 Texas address, on work sitting at 94 of 493 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 $46,370 and the top tenth $131,750 — 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 Texas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $70,615 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $68,620 survives, because Texas levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($46,370) and the ninetieth ($131,750) 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?
Texas'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 $70,615 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Texas levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $68,620 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.