File Clerks in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,391
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$6,779
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,689
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$39,170
Kept after tax
$32,391
Worth in national money
$36,689
State rank
39
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Oklahoma is among the lower-paying states for file clerks. The middle earner takes $39,170, ranking 39 of 49 states — about 10.16% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Oklahoma, this one sits low: 373 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Oklahoma does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,170 you keep $32,391, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,689 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $41,580, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Oklahoma ranks 39 of 49 for file clerks, with a median of $39,170 — about 10.16% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- File clerks occupies position 373 of 492 in Oklahoma's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and Oklahoma income tax, retained pay for file clerks on $39,170 is $32,391. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,689 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 $41,580 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: File Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,990 |
| This salary | $39,170 |
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 Oklahoma | $32,391 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,653 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,057 |
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 | $37,599 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,488 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Oklahoma earn less than $39,170. The published range is $27,980 up to $57,990, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $32,391 take-home in Oklahoma comes from $39,170. 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 373 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,689 uses one figure for the whole of Oklahoma. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 373.
- Reported values are medians; for file clerks in Oklahoma the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,980 to $57,990. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $32,391, from $39,170, assumes a single Oklahoma 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 373 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,689, worked from $39,170, 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 Oklahoma address, on work sitting at 373 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $41,580, 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 $27,980, the highest tenth $57,990, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $36,689.
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 Oklahoma's own levy, $32,391 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 Oklahoma is $41,580. 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 ($27,980) and the ninetieth ($57,990) 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?
Oklahoma'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 $36,689 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 $32,391 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.