Conservation Scientists in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,588
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$18,742
23.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,459
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$81,330
Kept after tax
$62,588
Worth in national money
$68,459
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Idaho pays conservation scientists a middle wage of $81,330, ranking 4 of 51 states and sitting about 11.4% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Idaho. It ranks 98 out of 476 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Idaho is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $81,330 the take-home is $62,588; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $68,459 would nationally. The average lands at $76,560, below the middle of the range.
- Idaho's median for conservation scientists is $81,330, about 11.4% above the national figure and 4 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Idaho, conservation scientists ranks 98 of 476 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for conservation scientists in Idaho, on $81,330, is $62,588 — equivalent to $68,459 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $76,560 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Conservation Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,300 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $81,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,560 |
| This salary | $81,330 |
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 Idaho | $62,588 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,046 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$493 |
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 | $76,416 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$681 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Idaho earn less than $81,330. The published range is $47,300 up to $99,560, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $62,588 take-home in Idaho comes from $81,330. 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 98 of 476.
- One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $68,459, the adjusted value of that $81,330 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 98 of 476 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for conservation scientists in Idaho the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $47,300 to $99,560. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $62,588, from $81,330, assumes a single Idaho 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 98 of 476 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $68,459 — the adjusted value of that $81,330 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 98 of 476 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 $76,560 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $47,300 at the tenth percentile, $99,560 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Idaho is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $68,459 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 Idaho's own levy, $62,588 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 Idaho is $76,560. 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 ($47,300 to $99,560) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Idaho rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Idaho'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 $68,459 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 $62,588 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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.