Cargo and Freight Agents in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,246
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$8,254
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,066
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
$42,500
Kept after tax
$34,246
Worth in national money
$38,066
State rank
47
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kansas pays cargo and freight agents a middle wage of $42,500, 47 of 48 states and about 18.68% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Kansas this is lower-paid work. Of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, cargo and freight agents ranks 375. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Kansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $42,500 you keep $34,246, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $38,066 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $42,430, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Kansas's $42,500 median for cargo and freight agents places it 47 of 48 states, about 18.68% 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 Kansas reports, cargo and freight agents ranks 375 of 488, 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 Kansas income tax, retained pay for cargo and freight agents on $42,500 is $34,246. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $38,066 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 $42,430 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Cargo and Freight Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,480 |
| This salary | $42,500 |
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 | $34,246 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,329 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$681 |
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 | $39,908 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$823 |
| 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 cargo and freight agents in Kansas earn under $42,500 and half over. The published range runs $26,050 at the tenth percentile to $60,480 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $34,246 take-home in Kansas comes from $42,500. 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 375 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,066 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 375.
- Figures are distribution medians for cargo and freight agents in Kansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $26,050 to $60,480; 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 $34,246, from $42,500, 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 375 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,066, worked from $42,500, 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 375 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $26,050 at the bottom tenth to $60,480 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $38,066 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Kansas then takes its own share, leaving $34,246.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($26,050) and the ninetieth ($60,480) 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 $38,066 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 $34,246 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.