Hazardous Materials Removal Workers in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,330
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$11,390
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,602
Oregon costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oregon — 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
$49,720
Kept after tax
$38,330
Worth in national money
$36,602
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Oregon is 20 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $49,720. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Oregon this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 367. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $49,720 the take-home is $38,330. But Oregon costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $36,602 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $53,230, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Oregon ranks 20 of 51 for hazardous materials removal workers at $49,720. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Oregon reports, hazardous materials removal workers ranks 367 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Oregon income tax is $38,330 for hazardous materials removal workers, from $49,720. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,602. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $53,230 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Hazardous Materials Removal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,450 |
| This salary | $49,720 |
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 Oregon | $38,330 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,130 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,753 |
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 | $44,990 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,167 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
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 hazardous materials removal workers in Oregon earn under $49,720 and half over. The published range runs $41,660 at the tenth percentile to $64,450 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $38,330 take-home in Oregon comes from $49,720. 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 367 of 489.
- Two cautions on $36,602, the adjusted value of that $49,720 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Oregon. 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 367 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for hazardous materials removal workers in Oregon, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $41,660 to $64,450; 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 $38,330, from $49,720, assumes a single Oregon 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 367 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- This $36,602 adjusted figure, worked from $49,720, 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 367 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 367 of 489 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 $53,230, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $41,660 and the top tenth $64,450, so most people doing this work in Oregon sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $36,602 of national purchasing power.
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 Oregon's own levy, $38,330 remains.
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 Oregon is $53,230. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($41,660 to $64,450) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oregon rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Oregon's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $36,602 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $38,330 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oregon 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.