Chemists in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,692
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$16,268
21.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,479
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$74,960
Kept after tax
$58,692
Worth in national money
$66,479
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for chemists is on the low side in Oklahoma. The middle earner gets $74,960. That is 47 of 51 states, and about 17.84% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within Oklahoma this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, chemists ranks 116 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Oklahoma does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $74,960 you keep $58,692, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $66,479 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $81,250, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For chemists, Oklahoma sits in the lower band at $74,960, ranking 47 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 17.84%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation Oklahoma publishes a median for, chemists sits 116 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Oklahoma income tax, retained pay for chemists on $74,960 is $58,692. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $66,479 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 $81,250 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chemists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $74,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $112,920 |
| This salary | $74,960 |
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 Oklahoma | $58,692 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,564 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,125 |
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 | $70,877 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,316 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $74,960 as a midpoint for Oklahoma, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,520 and the ninetieth is $112,920 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $58,692 take-home in Oklahoma comes from $74,960. 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 116 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oklahoma, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $66,479, the adjusted value of that $74,960 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 116 of 492 in the state.
- The Oklahoma median of $74,960 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,520 to $112,920. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $58,692, from $74,960, assumes a single Oklahoma 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 116 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oklahoma, so $66,479 — the adjusted value of that $74,960 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 116 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $81,250 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $48,520 and the top tenth $112,920 — 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 Oklahoma sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $66,479 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; Oklahoma then takes its own share, leaving $58,692.
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 Oklahoma is $81,250. 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 ($48,520) and the ninetieth ($112,920) 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?
Oklahoma'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 $66,479 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 $58,692 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.