Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,481
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$9,549
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,863
Georgia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Georgia — 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
$50,030
Kept after tax
$40,481
Worth in national money
$41,863
State rank
45
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Georgia pays earth drillers, except oil and gas a middle wage of $50,030, 45 of 48 states and about 16.88% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Earth drillers, except oil and gas ranks 275 among 492 occupations Georgia publishes pay for.
- Here is where Georgia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $50,030 you keep $40,481, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $41,863 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $54,630, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Georgia's $50,030 median for earth drillers, except oil and gas places it 45 of 48 states, about 16.88% 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.
- Position 275 of 492 in Georgia places earth drillers, except oil and gas in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Georgia income tax, retained pay for earth drillers, except oil and gas on $50,030 is $40,481. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $41,863 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $54,630 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,650 |
| This salary | $50,030 |
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 Georgia | $40,481 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,379 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,748 |
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 | $47,668 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,114 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Georgia earn less than $50,030. The published range is $35,680 up to $81,650, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Georgia the take-home figure of $40,481, from $50,030, 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 275 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $41,863, the adjusted value of that $50,030 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Georgia. 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 275 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for earth drillers, except oil and gas in Georgia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,680 to $81,650. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Georgia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $40,481 from $50,030. 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 275 of 492 locally.
- This $41,863 adjusted figure, worked from $50,030, 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 275 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 275 of 492 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 $54,630, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $35,680 and the top tenth $81,650 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Georgia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $41,863 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Georgia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $40,481 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 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 Georgia is $54,630. 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 ($35,680) and the ninetieth ($81,650) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Georgia'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 $41,863 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 $40,481 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Georgia 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.