Childcare Workers in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,928
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$3,752
12.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,240
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$29,680
Kept after tax
$25,928
Worth in national money
$28,240
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for childcare workers is on the low side in Ohio. The middle earner gets $29,680. That is 35 of 51 states, and about 15.15% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 494 occupations Ohio publishes, childcare workers lands at 481. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Ohio does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $29,680 you keep $25,928, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $28,240 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $31,930, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For childcare workers, Ohio sits in the lower band at $29,680, ranking 35 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 15.15%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Ohio, this work ranks 481 of 494 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Ohio income tax, retained pay for childcare workers on $29,680 is $25,928. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $28,240 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 $31,930 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Childcare Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $40,390 |
| This salary | $29,680 |
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 Ohio | $25,928 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,028 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,456 |
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 | $29,556 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,761 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Ohio earn less than $29,680. The published range is $23,800 up to $40,390, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Ohio the take-home figure of $25,928, from $29,680, 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 481 of 494 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,240 uses one figure for the whole of Ohio. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 494 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 481.
- Reported values are medians; for childcare workers in Ohio the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,800 to $40,390. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Ohio is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $25,928 from $29,680. 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 481 of 494 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,240, worked from $29,680, 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 Ohio address, on work sitting at 481 of 494 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 $31,930 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $23,800 and the top tenth $40,390, so most people doing this work in Ohio sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Ohio is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $28,240 in national terms.
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 Ohio's own levy, $25,928 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 Ohio is $31,930. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($23,800 to $40,390) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Ohio rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio'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 $28,240 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 $25,928 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.