Compensation and Benefits Managers in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,374
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$30,747
27.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,082
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$110,120
Kept after tax
$79,374
Worth in national money
$73,082
State rank
38
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Hawaii is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $110,120, ranking 38 of 45 states — about 26.21% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within Hawaii this is well-paid work. Of 437 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 58 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $110,120 the take-home is $79,374. But Hawaii costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $73,082 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $118,940, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Hawaii ranks 38 of 45 for compensation and benefits managers, with a median of $110,120 — about 26.21% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Ranked against every occupation Hawaii publishes a median for, compensation and benefits managers sits 58 of 437 — 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Hawaii income tax is $79,374 for compensation and benefits managers, from $110,120. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $73,082. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $118,940 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Compensation and Benefits Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $110,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $171,110 |
| This salary | $110,120 |
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 Hawaii | $79,374 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $86,299 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$15,726 |
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 | $100,275 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$21,723 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Hawaii earn less than $110,120. The published range is $76,670 up to $171,110, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $79,374 take-home in Hawaii comes from $110,120. 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 58 of 437.
- Two cautions on $73,082, the adjusted value of that $110,120 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Hawaii. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 58 of 437 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for compensation and benefits managers in Hawaii the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $76,670 to $171,110. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $79,374, from $110,120, assumes a single Hawaii 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 58 of 437 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 45 for it.
- This $73,082 adjusted figure, worked from $110,120, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 58 of 437 in the state. The occupation ranks 58 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $118,940, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $76,670 and the top tenth $171,110 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $73,082 of national purchasing power.
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 Hawaii's own levy, $79,374 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Hawaii is $118,940. 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 ($76,670) and the ninetieth ($171,110) 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?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $73,082 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 $79,374 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.