Food Batchmakers in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,826
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$6,664
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,382
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
$37,490
Kept after tax
$30,826
Worth in national money
$28,382
State rank
38
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Hawaii pays food batchmakers a middle wage of $37,490, 38 of 50 states and about 11.35% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Hawaii this is lower-paid work. Of 437 occupations the state publishes figures for, food batchmakers ranks 417. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $37,490 the take-home is $30,826. But Hawaii costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $28,382 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $39,090, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Hawaii's $37,490 median for food batchmakers places it 38 of 50 states, about 11.35% 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.
- Against every occupation Hawaii reports, food batchmakers ranks 417 of 437, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Hawaii income tax is $30,826 for food batchmakers, from $37,490. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,382. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $39,090 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Batchmakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,390 |
| This salary | $37,490 |
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 | $30,826 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,303 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,860 |
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 | $35,651 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,878 |
| 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 food batchmakers in Hawaii earn under $37,490 and half over. The published range runs $30,490 at the tenth percentile to $49,390 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $30,826 take-home in Hawaii comes from $37,490. 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 417 of 437.
- One number stands for prices across all of Hawaii, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $28,382, the adjusted value of that $37,490 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 417 of 437 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for food batchmakers in Hawaii, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,490 to $49,390; 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 $30,826, from $37,490, assumes a single Hawaii 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 417 of 437 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Hawaii, so $28,382 — the adjusted value of that $37,490 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 417 of 437 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 $39,090 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,490 at the bottom tenth to $49,390 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $28,382 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Hawaii adds its own income tax on top — which is why $30,826 of this wage survives to your account.
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 Hawaii is $39,090. 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 ($30,490 to $49,390) 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 $28,382 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 $30,826 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.