Detectives and Criminal Investigators in New Hampshire
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,646
after federal, FICA and New Hampshire tax
Tax takes
$17,644
19.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,010
New Hampshire costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New Hampshire — 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
$89,290
Kept after tax
$71,646
Worth in national money
$68,010
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. New Hampshire is 26 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $89,290. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 488 occupations New Hampshire reports, this job comes in at 96 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $89,290 the take-home is $71,646. But New Hampshire costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $68,010 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $104,670, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New Hampshire ranks 26 of 51 for detectives and criminal investigators at $89,290. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Detectives and criminal investigators ranks 96 of 488 occupations by median in New Hampshire, 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 after federal, FICA and New Hampshire income tax is $71,646 for detectives and criminal investigators, from $89,290. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $68,010. ⚠️ 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 $104,670 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Detectives and Criminal Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $74,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $89,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $174,050 |
| This salary | $89,290 |
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 New Hampshire | $71,646 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $71,646 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,718 |
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 | $89,290 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,898 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New Hampshire earn less than $89,290. The published range is $74,690 up to $174,050, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New Hampshire's $71,646, worked from $89,290. 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 96 of 488.
- Two cautions on $68,010, the adjusted value of that $89,290 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New Hampshire. 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 96 of 488 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for detectives and criminal investigators in New Hampshire the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $74,690 to $174,050. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The New Hampshire take-home of $71,646, on $89,290 for work ranking 96 of 488 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 96 of 488 in the state.
- This $68,010 adjusted figure, worked from $89,290, 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 96 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 96 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $104,670, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $74,690 at the bottom tenth to $174,050 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. New Hampshire costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $68,010 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $71,646 of this wage reaches your account, because New Hampshire 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?
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 New Hampshire is $104,670. 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 ($74,690) and the ninetieth ($174,050) 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?
New Hampshire's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $68,010 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?
New Hampshire levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $71,646 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.