Chemical Technicians in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,981
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$10,579
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,106
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
$54,560
Kept after tax
$43,981
Worth in national money
$48,106
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for chemical technicians is on the low side in Idaho. The middle earner gets $54,560. That is 42 of 51 states, and about 9.65% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Chemical technicians ranks 241 among 476 occupations Idaho publishes pay for.
- Here is where Idaho does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $54,560 you keep $43,981, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $48,106 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $54,240, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For chemical technicians, Idaho sits in the lower band at $54,560, ranking 42 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 9.65%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 241 of 476 in Idaho places chemical technicians 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 federal, FICA and Idaho income tax, retained pay for chemical technicians on $54,560 is $43,981. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $48,106 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 $54,240 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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: Chemical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,080 |
| This salary | $54,560 |
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 | $43,981 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,019 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$749 |
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 | $52,023 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$906 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $54,560 as a midpoint for Idaho, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,040 and the ninetieth is $77,080 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Idaho's $43,981, worked from $54,560. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 241 of 476.
- One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $48,106, the adjusted value of that $54,560 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 241 of 476 in the state.
- The Idaho median of $54,560 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,040 to $77,080. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Idaho take-home of $43,981, on $54,560 for work ranking 241 of 476 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 241 of 476 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $48,106 — the adjusted value of that $54,560 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 241 of 476 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 $36,040 and the top tenth $77,080 — 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 Idaho sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $48,106 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; Idaho then takes its own share, leaving $43,981.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($36,040) and the ninetieth ($77,080) 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?
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 $48,106 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 $43,981 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.