Helpers--Production Workers in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,373
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$6,947
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,761
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
$37,320
Kept after tax
$30,373
Worth in national money
$33,761
State rank
39
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kansas is among the lower-paying states for helpers--production workers. The middle earner takes $37,320, ranking 39 of 49 states — about 4.48% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Kansas, this one sits low: 419 of 488 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $37,320 you keep $30,373 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $33,761 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $39,350, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kansas ranks 39 of 49 for helpers--production workers, with a median of $37,320 — about 4.48% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Helpers--production workers occupies position 419 of 488 in Kansas's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Kansas is $30,373 after the full tax stack, from $37,320. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,761 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $39,350 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Helpers--Production Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,000 |
| This salary | $37,320 |
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 | $30,373 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,167 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$659 |
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 | $35,087 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$797 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,320 as a midpoint for Kansas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,640 and the ninetieth is $51,000 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $30,373 take-home in Kansas comes from $37,320. 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 419 of 488.
- Two cautions on $33,761, the adjusted value of that $37,320 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Kansas. 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 419 of 488 locally.
- The Kansas median of $37,320 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,640 to $51,000. 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 $30,373, from $37,320, 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 419 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 49 for it.
- This $33,761 adjusted figure, worked from $37,320, 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 419 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 419 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $39,350 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,640 and the top tenth $51,000, so most people doing this work in Kansas sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $33,761.
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 Kansas adds its own income tax on top — which is why $30,373 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $39,350. 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 ($30,640 to $51,000) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Kansas rather than a national figure.
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 $33,761 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 $30,373 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.
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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.