Conservation Scientists in Florida
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,263
after federal, FICA and Florida tax
Tax takes
$7,867
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,819
Florida costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Florida — 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
$51,130
Kept after tax
$43,263
Worth in national money
$41,819
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for conservation scientists is on the low side in Florida. The middle earner gets $51,130. That is 51 of 51 states, and about 29.97% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Florida reports figures for, this is number 266.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $51,130 the take-home is $43,263. But Florida costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $41,819 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $61,760, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For conservation scientists, Florida sits in the lower band at $51,130, ranking 51 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 29.97%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Florida's occupational distribution, conservation scientists sits at 266 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Florida income tax is $43,263 for conservation scientists, from $51,130. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,819. ⚠️ 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 $61,760 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Conservation Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,360 |
| This salary | $51,130 |
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 Florida | $43,263 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,263 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,701 |
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 | $51,130 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,267 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 103 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $51,130 as a midpoint for Florida, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,110 and the ninetieth is $98,360 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Florida's $43,263, worked from $51,130. 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 266 of 493.
- Two cautions on $41,819, the adjusted value of that $51,130 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Florida. 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 266 of 493 locally.
- The Florida median of $51,130 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,110 to $98,360. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Florida take-home of $43,263, on $51,130 for work ranking 266 of 493 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 266 of 493 in the state.
- This $41,819 adjusted figure, worked from $51,130, 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 266 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 266 of 493 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 $61,760 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 $37,110 at the bottom tenth to $98,360 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Florida run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $41,819 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $43,263 of this wage reaches your account, because Florida takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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 Florida is $61,760. 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 ($37,110) and the ninetieth ($98,360) 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?
Florida's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $41,819 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Florida levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $43,263 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.