Interpreters and Translators in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,334
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$7,936
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,613
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$42,270
Kept after tax
$34,334
Worth in national money
$31,613
State rank
47
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Hawaii is among the lower-paying states for interpreters and translators. The middle earner takes $42,270, ranking 47 of 47 states — about 29.75% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Hawaii, this one sits low: 392 of 437 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $42,270, tax leaves $34,334 — and because Hawaii is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $31,613 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $57,010, since top earners drag the number up.
- Hawaii ranks 47 of 47 for interpreters and translators, with a median of $42,270 — about 29.75% 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.
- Interpreters and translators occupies position 392 of 437 in Hawaii'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.
- After tax, $34,334 remains from the Hawaii median of $42,270 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $31,613 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $57,010 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Interpreters and Translators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $92,150 |
| This salary | $42,270 |
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 Hawaii | $34,334 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,144 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,582 |
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 | $40,018 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,751 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $42,270 as a midpoint for Hawaii, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,910 and the ninetieth is $92,150 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Hawaii's $34,334, worked from $42,270. 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 392 of 437.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,613 uses one figure for the whole of Hawaii. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 437 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 392.
- The Hawaii median of $42,270 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,910 to $92,150. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Hawaii take-home of $34,334, on $42,270 for work ranking 392 of 437 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 392 of 437 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,613, worked from $42,270, 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 Hawaii address, on work sitting at 392 of 437 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 $57,010 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $36,910, the highest tenth $92,150, 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 Hawaii run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $31,613 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Hawaii's own levy, $34,334 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 Hawaii is $57,010. 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 ($36,910) and the ninetieth ($92,150) 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?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $31,613 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 $34,334 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.