Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,054
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$28,776
27.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,026
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
$104,830
Kept after tax
$76,054
Worth in national money
$70,026
State rank
1
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Hawaii is one of the better-paying states for drywall and ceiling tile installers. The middle earner takes $104,830, which ranks 1 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 77.89% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Hawaii. It ranks 67 out of 437 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $104,830, tax leaves $76,054 — and because Hawaii is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $70,026 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $96,460.
- Hawaii ranks 1 of 49 states publishing a median for drywall and ceiling tile installers, at $104,830 — about 77.89% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Hawaii, drywall and ceiling tile installers ranks 67 of 437 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.
- After tax, $76,054 remains from the Hawaii median of $104,830 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $70,026 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $96,460 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $119,660 |
| This salary | $104,830 |
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 | $76,054 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,578 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$14,953 |
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 | $95,557 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$20,655 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of drywall and ceiling tile installers in Hawaii earn under $104,830 and half over. The published range runs $50,230 at the tenth percentile to $119,660 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $76,054 take-home in Hawaii comes from $104,830. 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 67 of 437.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $70,026 uses one figure for the whole of Hawaii. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 437 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 67.
- Figures are distribution medians for drywall and ceiling tile installers in Hawaii, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $50,230 to $119,660; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $76,054, from $104,830, 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 67 of 437 locally, and the state ranks 1 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $70,026, worked from $104,830, 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 Hawaii address, on work sitting at 67 of 437 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 $96,460, 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?
The range here is narrow. From $50,230 at the bottom tenth to $119,660 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Hawaii costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $70,026 rather than its face figure.
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; Hawaii then takes its own share, leaving $76,054.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 Hawaii is $96,460. 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 ($50,230 to $119,660) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
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 $70,026 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 $76,054 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.