Butchers and Meat Cutters in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,575
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$6,455
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,536
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$38,030
Kept after tax
$31,575
Worth in national money
$34,536
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Idaho pays butchers and meat cutters a middle wage of $38,030, 36 of 51 states and about 5.26% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Idaho this is lower-paid work. Of 476 occupations the state publishes figures for, butchers and meat cutters ranks 411. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Idaho does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $38,030 you keep $31,575, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,536 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $40,610, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Idaho's $38,030 median for butchers and meat cutters places it 36 of 51 states, about 5.26% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Idaho reports, butchers and meat cutters ranks 411 of 476, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Idaho income tax, retained pay for butchers and meat cutters on $38,030 is $31,575. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,536 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 $40,610 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Butchers and Meat Cutters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,370 |
| This salary | $38,030 |
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 Idaho | $31,575 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,737 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$847 |
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 | $36,583 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,025 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
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 butchers and meat cutters in Idaho earn under $38,030 and half over. The published range runs $29,570 at the tenth percentile to $50,370 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Idaho the take-home figure of $31,575, from $38,030, 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 411 of 476 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,536, the adjusted value of that $38,030 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 411 of 476 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for butchers and meat cutters in Idaho, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,570 to $50,370; 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.
- Take-home for Idaho is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,575 from $38,030. 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 411 of 476 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $34,536 — the adjusted value of that $38,030 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 411 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $40,610, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $29,570 at the bottom tenth to $50,370 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Idaho sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $34,536 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Idaho adds its own income tax on top — which is why $31,575 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Idaho is $40,610. 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 ($29,570 to $50,370) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Idaho rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Idaho'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 $34,536 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 $31,575 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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.