Graphic Designers in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,568
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$11,062
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,316
Kansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kansas — 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
$53,630
Kept after tax
$42,568
Worth in national money
$47,316
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kansas pays graphic designers a middle wage of $53,630, 40 of 51 states and about 14.82% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Graphic designers ranks 256 among 488 occupations Kansas publishes pay for.
- Here is where Kansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $53,630 you keep $42,568, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $47,316 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $57,850, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kansas's $53,630 median for graphic designers places it 40 of 51 states, about 14.82% 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 256 of 488 in Kansas places graphic designers 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 Kansas income tax, retained pay for graphic designers on $53,630 is $42,568. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $47,316 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 $57,850 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Graphic Designers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $86,260 |
| This salary | $53,630 |
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 Kansas | $42,568 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,272 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$728 |
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 | $50,265 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$880 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $53,630 as a midpoint for Kansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,440 and the ninetieth is $86,260 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $42,568 take-home in Kansas comes from $53,630. 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 256 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $47,316, the adjusted value of that $53,630 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 256 of 488 in the state.
- The Kansas median of $53,630 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,440 to $86,260. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $42,568, from $53,630, assumes a single Kansas 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 256 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kansas, so $47,316 — the adjusted value of that $53,630 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 256 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $57,850, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,440 and the top tenth $86,260 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Kansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $47,316 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Kansas then takes its own share, leaving $42,568.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 Kansas is $57,850. 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 ($37,440) and the ninetieth ($86,260) 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?
Kansas'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 $47,316 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 $42,568 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kansas 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.