File Clerks in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,449
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$10,181
20.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,243
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
$50,630
Kept after tax
$40,449
Worth in national money
$37,243
State rank
2
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Hawaii pays file clerks a middle wage of $50,630, ranking 2 of 49 states and sitting about 16.12% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. File clerks ranks 310 among 437 occupations Hawaii publishes pay for.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $50,630, tax leaves $40,449 — and because Hawaii is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $37,243 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $49,040.
- Hawaii's median for file clerks is $50,630, about 16.12% above the national figure and 2 of 49 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 310 of 437 in Hawaii places file clerks 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 tax, $40,449 remains from the Hawaii median of $50,630 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $37,243 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $49,040 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: File Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,660 |
| This salary | $50,630 |
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 | $40,449 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,861 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,864 |
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 | $47,628 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,301 |
| 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 file clerks in Hawaii earn under $50,630 and half over. The published range runs $32,190 at the tenth percentile to $64,660 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Hawaii the take-home figure of $40,449, from $50,630, 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 310 of 437 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,243 uses one figure for the whole of Hawaii. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 437 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 310.
- Figures are distribution medians for file clerks in Hawaii, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,190 to $64,660; 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 Hawaii is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $40,449 from $50,630. 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 310 of 437 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,243, worked from $50,630, 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 Hawaii address, on work sitting at 310 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 $49,040, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $32,190 at the bottom tenth to $64,660 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $37,243 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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; Hawaii then takes its own share, leaving $40,449.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 Hawaii is $49,040. 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 ($32,190 to $64,660) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
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 $37,243 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 $40,449 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.