Health Education Specialists in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,888
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$19,612
26.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,369
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
$75,500
Kept after tax
$55,888
Worth in national money
$53,369
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Oregon is one of the better-paying states for health education specialists. The middle earner takes $75,500, which ranks 8 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 17.84% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Oregon reports figures for, this is number 189.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $75,500 the take-home is $55,888. But Oregon costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $53,369 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $81,440, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Oregon ranks 8 of 51 states publishing a median for health education specialists, at $75,500 — about 17.84% 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.
- In Oregon's occupational distribution, health education specialists sits at 189 of 489 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Oregon income tax is $55,888 for health education specialists, from $75,500. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $53,369. ⚠️ 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 $81,440 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Health Education Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $54,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $111,860 |
| This salary | $75,500 |
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 | $55,888 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,944 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,376 |
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 | $66,892 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,669 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Oregon earn less than $75,500. The published range is $54,430 up to $111,860, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Oregon the take-home figure of $55,888, from $75,500, 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 189 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,369 uses one figure for the whole of Oregon. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 189.
- Reported values are medians; for health education specialists in Oregon the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $54,430 to $111,860. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Oregon is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $55,888 from $75,500. 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 189 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,369, worked from $75,500, 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 Oregon address, on work sitting at 189 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $81,440, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $54,430, the highest tenth $111,860, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Oregon run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $53,369 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Oregon adds its own income tax on top — which is why $55,888 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $81,440. 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 ($54,430) and the ninetieth ($111,860) 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.
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 $53,369 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 $55,888 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.