Chemists in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,808
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$30,782
29.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,480
Oregon costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oregon — 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
$104,590
Kept after tax
$73,808
Worth in national money
$70,480
State rank
7
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Oregon is one of the better-paying states for chemists. The middle earner takes $104,590, which ranks 7 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 14.63% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations Oregon reports, chemists comes in at 73 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Oregon is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $104,590 the take-home is $73,808; in national-average money that behaves like $70,480. The average comes to $111,320, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Oregon ranks 7 of 51 states publishing a median for chemists, at $104,590 — about 14.63% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Chemists ranks 73 of 489 occupations by median in Oregon, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Take-home for chemists in Oregon, on $104,590, is $73,808; deflated by the state's price level, $70,480. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $111,320 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chemists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $70,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $157,700 |
| This salary | $104,590 |
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 Oregon | $73,808 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,409 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$14,325 |
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 | $92,363 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$19,787 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
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 chemists in Oregon earn under $104,590 and half over. The published range runs $70,320 at the tenth percentile to $157,700 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Oregon's $73,808, worked from $104,590. 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 73 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oregon, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $70,480, the adjusted value of that $104,590 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 73 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for chemists in Oregon, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $70,320 to $157,700; 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.
- The Oregon take-home of $73,808, on $104,590 for work ranking 73 of 489 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 73 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oregon, so $70,480 — the adjusted value of that $104,590 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 73 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $111,320, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $70,320 at the bottom tenth to $157,700 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Oregon costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $70,480 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Oregon's own levy, $73,808 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 Oregon is $111,320. 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 ($70,320) and the ninetieth ($157,700) 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.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Oregon's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $70,480 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $73,808 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oregon 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.