Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,068
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$9,882
20.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,426
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
$48,950
Kept after tax
$39,068
Worth in national money
$43,426
State rank
42
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Kansas. The middle earner gets $48,950. That is 42 of 49 states, and about 14.77% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 283 among 488 occupations Kansas publishes pay for.
- Here is where Kansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,950 you keep $39,068, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,426 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $51,140, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining, Kansas sits in the lower band at $48,950, ranking 42 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 14.77%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 283 of 488 in Kansas places excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining 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 Kansas income tax, retained pay for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining on $48,950 is $39,068. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,426 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 $51,140 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,970 |
| This salary | $48,950 |
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 | $39,068 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,511 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$708 |
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 | $45,910 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$856 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in Kansas earn under $48,950 and half over. The published range runs $44,180 at the tenth percentile to $57,970 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,068 take-home in Kansas comes from $48,950. 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 283 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $43,426, the adjusted value of that $48,950 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 283 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in Kansas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $44,180 to $57,970; 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.
- Retained pay of $39,068, from $48,950, 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 283 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kansas, so $43,426 — the adjusted value of that $48,950 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 283 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 $51,140, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $44,180 at the bottom tenth to $57,970 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Kansas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $43,426 in national terms.
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 $39,068.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $51,140. 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 ($44,180 to $57,970) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Kansas rather than a national figure.
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 $43,426 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 $39,068 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.
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.