Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,523
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$19,557
24.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,726
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$80,080
Kept after tax
$60,523
Worth in national money
$55,726
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Hawaii pays this job a middle wage of $80,080, ranking 1 of 51 states and sitting about 29.64% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 135 among 437 occupations Hawaii publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $80,080, tax leaves $60,523 — and because Hawaii is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $55,726 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $76,730.
- Hawaii's median for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists is $80,080, about 29.64% above the national figure and 1 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 135 of 437 in Hawaii places bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After tax, $60,523 remains from the Hawaii median of $80,080 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $55,726 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $76,730 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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: Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $54,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,540 |
| This salary | $80,080 |
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 Hawaii | $60,523 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,166 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,335 |
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 | $73,480 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$15,398 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $80,080 as a midpoint for Hawaii, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $54,330 and the ninetieth is $100,540 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Hawaii the take-home figure of $60,523, from $80,080, 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 135 of 437 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Hawaii, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $55,726, the adjusted value of that $80,080 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 135 of 437 in the state.
- The Hawaii median of $80,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $54,330 to $100,540. 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 Hawaii is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $60,523 from $80,080. 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 135 of 437 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Hawaii, so $55,726 — the adjusted value of that $80,080 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 135 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $76,730, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $54,330 at the bottom tenth to $100,540 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Hawaii run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $55,726 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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; Hawaii then takes its own share, leaving $60,523.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 Hawaii is $76,730. 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 ($54,330 to $100,540) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $55,726 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $60,523 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.