Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,903
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$8,227
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,365
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
$45,130
Kept after tax
$36,903
Worth in national money
$40,365
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Idaho is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $45,130, ranking 47 of 51 states — about 7.08% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 476 occupations Idaho reports figures for, this is number 340.
- Idaho is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $45,130 the take-home is $36,903; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $40,365 would nationally. The average comes to $52,120, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Idaho ranks 47 of 51 for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers, with a median of $45,130 — about 7.08% 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.
- In Idaho's occupational distribution, inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers sits at 340 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.
- Post-tax income for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers in Idaho, on $45,130, is $36,903 — equivalent to $40,365 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $52,120 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,370 |
| This salary | $45,130 |
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 | $36,903 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,442 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$805 |
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 | $43,215 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$974 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,130 as a midpoint for Idaho, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,790 and the ninetieth is $83,370 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $36,903 take-home in Idaho comes from $45,130. 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 340 of 476.
- One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,365, the adjusted value of that $45,130 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 340 of 476 in the state.
- The Idaho median of $45,130 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,790 to $83,370. 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 $36,903, from $45,130, assumes a single Idaho 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 340 of 476 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $40,365 — the adjusted value of that $45,130 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 340 of 476 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 $52,120 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $34,790 at the bottom tenth to $83,370 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $40,365.
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 Idaho's own levy, $36,903 remains.
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 Idaho is $52,120. 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 ($34,790) and the ninetieth ($83,370) 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 $40,365 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 $36,903 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.