Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,775
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$18,435
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,443
Kansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kansas — 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
$78,210
Kept after tax
$59,775
Worth in national money
$66,443
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Kansas pays this job around $78,210 at the midpoint, 29 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Kansas this is well-paid work. Of 488 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 108 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Kansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $78,210 you keep $59,775, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $66,443 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $87,500, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For environmental scientists and specialists, including health the Kansas median is $78,210, ranking 29 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Kansas publishes a median for, environmental scientists and specialists, including health sits 108 of 488 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Kansas income tax, retained pay for environmental scientists and specialists, including health on $78,210 is $59,775. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $66,443 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 $87,500 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $136,990 |
| This salary | $78,210 |
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 Kansas | $59,775 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,851 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$736 |
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 | $72,417 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,016 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Kansas earn less than $78,210. The published range is $56,120 up to $136,990, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $59,775 take-home in Kansas comes from $78,210. 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 108 of 488.
- Two cautions on $66,443, the adjusted value of that $78,210 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Kansas. 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 108 of 488 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for environmental scientists and specialists, including health in Kansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $56,120 to $136,990. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $59,775, from $78,210, assumes a single Kansas 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 108 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 51 for it.
- This $66,443 adjusted figure, worked from $78,210, 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 108 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 108 of 488 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 $87,500, 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 $56,120 and the top tenth $136,990 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $66,443.
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; Kansas then takes its own share, leaving $59,775.
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 Kansas is $87,500. 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 ($56,120) and the ninetieth ($136,990) 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?
Kansas'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 $66,443 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 $59,775 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kansas 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.