Electrical Engineers in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,008
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$29,342
27.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,904
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
$106,350
Kept after tax
$77,008
Worth in national money
$70,904
State rank
32
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Hawaii is 32 of 49 states for electrical engineers, with a middle wage of $106,350. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 437 occupations Hawaii reports, electrical engineers comes in at 64 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $106,350 the take-home is $77,008. But Hawaii costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $70,904 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $111,270, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Hawaii ranks 32 of 49 for electrical engineers at $106,350. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Electrical engineers ranks 64 of 437 occupations by median in Hawaii, 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 Hawaii income tax is $77,008 for electrical engineers, from $106,350. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $70,904. ⚠️ 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 $111,270 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Electrical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $73,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $106,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $156,580 |
| This salary | $106,350 |
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 | $77,008 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $83,647 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$15,175 |
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 | $96,912 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$20,962 |
| 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 electrical engineers in Hawaii earn under $106,350 and half over. The published range runs $73,890 at the tenth percentile to $156,580 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Hawaii's $77,008, worked from $106,350. 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 64 of 437.
- One number stands for prices across all of Hawaii, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $70,904, the adjusted value of that $106,350 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 64 of 437 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for electrical engineers in Hawaii, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $73,890 to $156,580; 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.
- The Hawaii take-home of $77,008, on $106,350 for work ranking 64 of 437 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 64 of 437 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Hawaii, so $70,904 — the adjusted value of that $106,350 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 64 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $111,270, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $73,890, the highest tenth $156,580, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Hawaii run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $70,904 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Hawaii's own levy, $77,008 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.
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 $111,270. 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 ($73,890) and the ninetieth ($156,580) 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?
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 $70,904 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 $77,008 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.