Chemists in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,042
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$18,018
22.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,074
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
$80,060
Kept after tax
$62,042
Worth in national money
$71,074
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for chemists is on the low side in Mississippi. The middle earner gets $80,060. That is 40 of 51 states, and about 12.25% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Mississippi. It ranks 75 out of 486 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $80,060 you keep $62,042 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $71,074 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $87,580, since top earners drag the number up.
- For chemists, Mississippi sits in the lower band at $80,060, ranking 40 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 12.25%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Mississippi, chemists ranks 75 of 486 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Mississippi is $62,042 after the full tax stack, from $80,060. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $71,074 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $87,580 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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: Chemists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $130,560 |
| This salary | $80,060 |
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 | $62,042 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,152 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,028 |
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 | $75,639 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,563 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Mississippi earn less than $80,060. The published range is $52,060 up to $130,560, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Mississippi the take-home figure of $62,042, from $80,060, 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 75 of 486 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $71,074 uses one figure for the whole of Mississippi. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 486 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 75.
- Reported values are medians; for chemists in Mississippi the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $52,060 to $130,560. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Mississippi is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $62,042 from $80,060. 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 75 of 486 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $71,074, worked from $80,060, 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 Mississippi address, on work sitting at 75 of 486 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 $87,580, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $52,060, the highest tenth $130,560, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $71,074.
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 $62,042.
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 Mississippi is $87,580. 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 ($52,060) and the ninetieth ($130,560) 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 $71,074 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 $62,042 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.
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.