Forest and Conservation Technicians in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,027
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$10,263
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,063
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$53,290
Kept after tax
$43,027
Worth in national money
$47,063
State rank
23
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Idaho is 23 of 45 states for this job, with a middle wage of $53,290. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 249 among 476 occupations Idaho publishes pay for.
- Here is where Idaho does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $53,290 you keep $43,027, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $47,063 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $59,640, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Idaho ranks 23 of 45 for forest and conservation technicians at $53,290. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 249 of 476 in Idaho places forest and conservation technicians 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 federal, FICA and Idaho income tax, retained pay for forest and conservation technicians on $53,290 is $43,027. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $47,063 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 $59,640 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Forest and Conservation Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,120 |
| This salary | $53,290 |
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 Idaho | $43,027 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,999 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$756 |
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 | $50,837 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$915 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Idaho earn less than $53,290. The published range is $43,660 up to $84,120, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $43,027 take-home in Idaho comes from $53,290. 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 249 of 476.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $47,063 uses one figure for the whole of Idaho. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 476 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 249.
- Reported values are medians; for forest and conservation technicians in Idaho the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $43,660 to $84,120. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $43,027, from $53,290, assumes a single Idaho 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 249 of 476 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $47,063, worked from $53,290, 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 Idaho address, on work sitting at 249 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $59,640, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $43,660 and the top tenth $84,120 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Idaho is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $47,063 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 Idaho's own levy, $43,027 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 Idaho is $59,640. 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 ($43,660) and the ninetieth ($84,120) 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?
Idaho'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 $47,063 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 $43,027 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.