Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,632
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$8,448
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,625
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$46,080
Kept after tax
$37,632
Worth in national money
$42,625
State rank
41
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Oklahoma pays drywall and ceiling tile installers a middle wage of $46,080, 41 of 49 states and about 21.81% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Oklahoma reports figures for, this is number 311.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,080 you keep $37,632 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $42,625 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $46,120, since top earners drag the number up.
- Oklahoma's $46,080 median for drywall and ceiling tile installers places it 41 of 49 states, about 21.81% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Oklahoma's occupational distribution, drywall and ceiling tile installers sits at 311 of 492 — 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 in Oklahoma is $37,632 after the full tax stack, from $46,080. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,625 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $46,120 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,790 |
| This salary | $46,080 |
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 Oklahoma | $37,632 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,205 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,280 |
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 | $44,122 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,758 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Oklahoma earn less than $46,080. The published range is $41,860 up to $49,790, 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 Oklahoma's $37,632, worked from $46,080. 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 311 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,625 uses one figure for the whole of Oklahoma. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 311.
- Reported values are medians; for drywall and ceiling tile installers in Oklahoma the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $41,860 to $49,790. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Oklahoma take-home of $37,632, on $46,080 for work ranking 311 of 492 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 311 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,625, worked from $46,080, 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 Oklahoma address, on work sitting at 311 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $41,860 at the bottom tenth to $49,790 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $42,625.
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 Oklahoma's own levy, $37,632 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($41,860 to $49,790) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oklahoma rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma'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 $42,625 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 $37,632 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.