Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$83,499
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$28,901
25.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$95,655
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — 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
$112,400
Kept after tax
$83,499
Worth in national money
$95,655
State rank
5
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Mississippi is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $112,400, which ranks 5 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 10.28% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Mississippi. It ranks 16 out of 486 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Mississippi does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $112,400 you keep $83,499, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $95,655 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $115,470, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Mississippi ranks 5 of 50 states publishing a median for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers, at $112,400 — about 10.28% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Mississippi, geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers ranks 16 of 486 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.
- After federal, FICA and Mississippi income tax, retained pay for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers on $112,400 is $83,499. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $95,655 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 $115,470 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 | $70,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $112,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $161,890 |
| This salary | $112,400 |
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 Mississippi | $83,499 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $87,903 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,196 |
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 | $106,140 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,178 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
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 geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers in Mississippi earn under $112,400 and half over. The published range runs $70,970 at the tenth percentile to $161,890 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $83,499 take-home in Mississippi comes from $112,400. 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 16 of 486.
- Two cautions on $95,655, the adjusted value of that $112,400 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Mississippi. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 16 of 486 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers in Mississippi, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $70,970 to $161,890; 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 $83,499, from $112,400, assumes a single Mississippi 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 16 of 486 locally, and the state ranks 5 of 50 for it.
- This $95,655 adjusted figure, worked from $112,400, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 16 of 486 in the state. The occupation ranks 16 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $70,970, the highest tenth $161,890, 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. Mississippi is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $95,655 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 Mississippi's own levy, $83,499 remains.
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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($70,970) and the ninetieth ($161,890) 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?
Mississippi'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 $95,655 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 $83,499 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi 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.