Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,241
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$10,999
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,485
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
$56,240
Kept after tax
$45,241
Worth in national money
$49,485
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Idaho. The middle earner gets $56,240. That is 44 of 51 states, and about 7.82% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 476 occupations Idaho reports figures for, this is number 237.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $56,240 you keep $45,241 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $49,485 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $60,010, since top earners drag the number up.
- For heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers, Idaho sits in the lower band at $56,240, ranking 44 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 7.82%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Idaho's occupational distribution, heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers sits at 237 of 476 — 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 in Idaho is $45,241 after the full tax stack, from $56,240. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $49,485 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $60,010 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,780 |
| This salary | $56,240 |
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 | $45,241 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,369 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$739 |
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 | $53,592 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$894 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
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 heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in Idaho earn under $56,240 and half over. The published range runs $38,660 at the tenth percentile to $80,780 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Idaho's $45,241, worked from $56,240. 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 237 of 476.
- One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $49,485, the adjusted value of that $56,240 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 237 of 476 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in Idaho, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,660 to $80,780; 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.
- The Idaho take-home of $45,241, on $56,240 for work ranking 237 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 237 of 476 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $49,485 — the adjusted value of that $56,240 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 237 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $60,010, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $38,660 at the bottom tenth to $80,780 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Idaho sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $49,485 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; Idaho then takes its own share, leaving $45,241.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $60,010. 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 ($38,660) and the ninetieth ($80,780) 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 $49,485 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 $45,241 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.
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.