Firefighters in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,788
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$9,112
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,891
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
$45,900
Kept after tax
$36,788
Worth in national money
$40,891
State rank
41
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kansas pays firefighters a middle wage of $45,900, 41 of 50 states and about 22.57% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Kansas reports figures for, this is number 332.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $45,900 you keep $36,788 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $40,891 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $49,110, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kansas's $45,900 median for firefighters places it 41 of 50 states, about 22.57% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Kansas's occupational distribution, firefighters sits at 332 of 488 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Kansas is $36,788 after the full tax stack, from $45,900. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $40,891 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $49,110 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Firefighters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,110 |
| This salary | $45,900 |
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 | $36,788 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,061 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$695 |
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 | $43,072 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$841 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,900 as a midpoint for Kansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,810 and the ninetieth is $76,110 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Kansas the take-home figure of $36,788, from $45,900, 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 332 of 488 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,891 uses one figure for the whole of Kansas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 332.
- The Kansas median of $45,900 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,810 to $76,110. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Kansas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $36,788 from $45,900. 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 332 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,891, worked from $45,900, 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 Kansas address, on work sitting at 332 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $49,110, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $32,810 at the bottom tenth to $76,110 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $40,891 in national terms.
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 Kansas's own levy, $36,788 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 Kansas is $49,110. 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 ($32,810) and the ninetieth ($76,110) 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 $40,891 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 $36,788 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.