Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers in Georgia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,743
after federal, FICA and Georgia tax
Tax takes
$16,177
21.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,714
Georgia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Georgia — 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
$73,920
Kept after tax
$57,743
Worth in national money
$59,714
State rank
46
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Georgia pays this job a middle wage of $73,920, 46 of 50 states and about 27.47% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 144 among 492 occupations Georgia publishes pay for.
- Here is where Georgia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $73,920 you keep $57,743, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $59,714 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $85,320, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Georgia's $73,920 median for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers places it 46 of 50 states, about 27.47% 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.
- Position 144 of 492 in Georgia places geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers 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 Georgia income tax, retained pay for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers on $73,920 is $57,743. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $59,714 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 $85,320 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,550 |
| This salary | $73,920 |
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 Georgia | $57,743 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,833 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,887 |
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 | $69,528 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,988 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $73,920 as a midpoint for Georgia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $58,500 and the ninetieth is $123,550 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Georgia the take-home figure of $57,743, from $73,920, 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 144 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,714 uses one figure for the whole of Georgia. 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 144.
- The Georgia median of $73,920 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $58,500 to $123,550. 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 Georgia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $57,743 from $73,920. 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 144 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,714, worked from $73,920, 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 Georgia address, on work sitting at 144 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 $85,320 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $58,500 and the top tenth $123,550 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $59,714.
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 Georgia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $57,743 of this wage survives to your account.
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 50 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 Georgia is $85,320. 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 ($58,500) and the ninetieth ($123,550) 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?
Georgia'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 $59,714 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 $57,743 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Georgia 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.