Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$68,989
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$22,181
24.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,460
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
$91,170
Kept after tax
$68,989
Worth in national money
$75,460
State rank
20
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Idaho is 20 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $91,170. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Idaho. It ranks 77 out of 476 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $91,170 you keep $68,989 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $75,460 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $104,530, since top earners drag the number up.
- Idaho ranks 20 of 50 for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers at $91,170. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Idaho, geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers ranks 77 of 476 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Idaho is $68,989 after the full tax stack, from $91,170. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $75,460 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $104,530 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $67,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $91,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $174,800 |
| This salary | $91,170 |
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 | $68,989 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $72,968 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$371 |
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 | $85,514 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$512 |
| 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 $91,170. The published range is $67,200 up to $174,800, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Idaho's $68,989, worked from $91,170. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 77 of 476.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $75,460 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 77.
- Reported values are medians; for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers in Idaho the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $67,200 to $174,800. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Idaho take-home of $68,989, on $91,170 for work ranking 77 of 476 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 77 of 476 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $75,460, worked from $91,170, 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 77 of 476 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 $104,530 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 $67,200, the highest tenth $174,800, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $75,460 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, $68,989 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 Idaho is $104,530. 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 ($67,200) and the ninetieth ($174,800) 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 $75,460 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 $68,989 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.