Firefighters in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,386
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$9,324
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,744
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
$49,710
Kept after tax
$40,386
Worth in national money
$45,744
State rank
29
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Oklahoma sits in the middle of the pack for firefighters. The median is $49,710, ranking 29 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Oklahoma, this sits in the middle: 259 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Oklahoma does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $49,710 you keep $40,386, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $45,744 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $52,280, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Oklahoma occupies the middle band for firefighters: a median of $49,710, ranking 29 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Firefighters ranks 259 of 492 occupations in Oklahoma by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Oklahoma income tax, retained pay for firefighters on $49,710 is $40,386. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $45,744 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 $52,280 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Firefighters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,560 |
| This salary | $49,710 |
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 | $40,386 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,122 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,397 |
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 | $47,549 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,899 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $49,710 as a midpoint for Oklahoma, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,620 and the ninetieth is $77,560 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $40,386 take-home in Oklahoma comes from $49,710. 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 259 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,744 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 259.
- The Oklahoma median of $49,710 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,620 to $77,560. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $40,386, from $49,710, 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 259 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,744, worked from $49,710, 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 259 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $52,280 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $31,620, the highest tenth $77,560, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Oklahoma sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $45,744 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Oklahoma then takes its own share, leaving $40,386.
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 Oklahoma is $52,280. 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 ($31,620) and the ninetieth ($77,560) 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 $45,744 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 $40,386 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.