Biological Scientists, All Other in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$69,413
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$21,757
23.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$79,519
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
$91,170
Kept after tax
$69,413
Worth in national money
$79,519
State rank
23
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Mississippi is 23 of 50 states for biological scientists, all other, with a middle wage of $91,170. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 486 occupations Mississippi reports, biological scientists, all other comes in at 50 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Mississippi is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $91,170 the take-home is $69,413; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $79,519 would nationally. The average comes to $95,580, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Mississippi ranks 23 of 50 for biological scientists, all other at $91,170. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Biological scientists, all other ranks 50 of 486 occupations by median in Mississippi, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for biological scientists, all other in Mississippi, on $91,170, is $69,413 — equivalent to $79,519 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 $95,580 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Biological Scientists, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $91,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $161,890 |
| This salary | $91,170 |
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 | $69,413 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $72,968 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,429 |
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 | $86,117 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,118 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $91,170 as a midpoint for Mississippi, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,660 and the ninetieth is $161,890 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Mississippi the take-home figure of $69,413, from $91,170, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 50 of 486 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Mississippi, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $79,519, the adjusted value of that $91,170 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 50 of 486 in the state.
- The Mississippi median of $91,170 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,660 to $161,890. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Mississippi is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $69,413 from $91,170. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 50 of 486 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Mississippi, so $79,519 — the adjusted value of that $91,170 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 50 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $95,580, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $41,660 at the bottom tenth to $161,890 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $79,519.
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 $69,413.
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.
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 Mississippi is $95,580. 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 ($41,660) and the ninetieth ($161,890) 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?
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 $79,519 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 $69,413 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.