Civil Engineers in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,591
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$21,629
22.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$81,243
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
$96,220
Kept after tax
$74,591
Worth in national money
$81,243
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Ohio pays civil engineers a middle wage of $96,220, 39 of 51 states and about 4.58% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 494 occupations Ohio reports, civil engineers comes in at 69 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $96,220 you keep $74,591 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $81,243 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $100,810, since top earners drag the number up.
- Ohio's $96,220 median for civil engineers places it 39 of 51 states, about 4.58% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Civil engineers ranks 69 of 494 occupations by median in Ohio, 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.
- Retained pay in Ohio is $74,591 after the full tax stack, from $96,220. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $81,243 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $100,810 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Civil Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $96,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $144,620 |
| This salary | $96,220 |
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 | $74,591 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $76,521 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,498 |
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 | $93,477 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,450 |
| 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 $96,220. The published range is $65,170 up to $144,620, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Ohio the take-home figure of $74,591, from $96,220, 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 69 of 494 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Ohio, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $81,243, the adjusted value of that $96,220 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 69 of 494 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for civil engineers in Ohio the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $65,170 to $144,620. 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 $74,591 from $96,220. 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 69 of 494 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Ohio, so $81,243 — the adjusted value of that $96,220 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 69 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 $100,810 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $65,170 at the bottom tenth to $144,620 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $81,243 in national terms.
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; Ohio then takes its own share, leaving $74,591.
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 Ohio is $100,810. 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 ($65,170) and the ninetieth ($144,620) 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?
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 $81,243 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 $74,591 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.