Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,303
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$12,017
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,834
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$60,320
Kept after tax
$48,303
Worth in national money
$52,834
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Idaho is 33 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $60,320. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Idaho, this sits in the middle: 205 of 476 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $60,320 you keep $48,303 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $52,834 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $62,800, since top earners drag the number up.
- Idaho ranks 33 of 51 for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors at $60,320. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors ranks 205 of 476 occupations in Idaho by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Idaho is $48,303 after the full tax stack, from $60,320. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $52,834 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $62,800 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,620 |
| This salary | $60,320 |
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 Idaho | $48,303 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,647 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$714 |
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 | $57,403 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$864 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
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 educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors in Idaho earn under $60,320 and half over. The published range runs $46,710 at the tenth percentile to $79,620 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Idaho the take-home figure of $48,303, from $60,320, 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 205 of 476 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $52,834 uses one figure for the whole of Idaho. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 476 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 205.
- Figures are distribution medians for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors in Idaho, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,710 to $79,620; 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.
- Take-home for Idaho is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,303 from $60,320. 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 205 of 476 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $52,834, worked from $60,320, 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 Idaho address, on work sitting at 205 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $62,800, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,710 at the tenth percentile, $79,620 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Idaho is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $52,834 in national terms.
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 Idaho's own levy, $48,303 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 Idaho is $62,800. 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 ($46,710 to $79,620) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Idaho rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Idaho'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 $52,834 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 $48,303 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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.
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.