Crane and Tower Operators in Kansas

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,056
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$18,044
23.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,644
Kansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kansas — 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
$77,100
Kept after tax
$59,056
Worth in national money
$65,644
State rank
18
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Kansas pays crane and tower operators around $77,100 at the midpoint, 18 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Kansas. It ranks 112 out of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $77,100 you keep $59,056 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $65,644 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $73,110.
- For crane and tower operators the Kansas median is $77,100, ranking 18 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Kansas, crane and tower operators ranks 112 of 488 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.
- Retained pay in Kansas is $59,056 after the full tax stack, from $77,100. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $65,644 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $73,110 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Crane and Tower Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,500 |
| This salary | $77,100 |
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 Kansas | $59,056 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,070 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$740 |
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 | $71,395 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,022 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Kansas earn less than $77,100. The published range is $49,840 up to $99,500, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Kansas the take-home figure of $59,056, from $77,100, 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 112 of 488 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $65,644 uses one figure for the whole of Kansas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 112.
- Reported values are medians; for crane and tower operators in Kansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,840 to $99,500. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Kansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $59,056 from $77,100. 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 112 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $65,644, worked from $77,100, 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 Kansas address, on work sitting at 112 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $73,110, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $49,840 and the top tenth $99,500, so most people doing this work in Kansas sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Kansas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $65,644 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; Kansas then takes its own share, leaving $59,056.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 Kansas is $73,110. 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 ($49,840 to $99,500) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Kansas rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kansas'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 $65,644 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 $59,056 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kansas 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.