Lawyers in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,196
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$28,454
26.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$86,918
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
$106,650
Kept after tax
$78,196
Worth in national money
$86,918
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kansas pays lawyers a middle wage of $106,650, 41 of 51 states and about 33.21% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Kansas this is well-paid work. Of 488 occupations with published figures in the state, lawyers ranks 38 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Kansas does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $106,650 you keep $78,196, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $86,918 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $130,530, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kansas's $106,650 median for lawyers places it 41 of 51 states, about 33.21% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Ranked against every occupation Kansas publishes a median for, lawyers sits 38 of 488 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Kansas income tax, retained pay for lawyers on $106,650 is $78,196. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $86,918 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $130,530 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Lawyers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,300 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $106,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $213,360 |
| This salary | $106,650 |
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 | $78,196 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $83,858 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$622 |
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 | $98,601 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$859 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Kansas earn less than $106,650. The published range is $76,300 up to $213,360, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kansas's $78,196, worked from $106,650. 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 38 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $86,918, the adjusted value of that $106,650 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 38 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for lawyers in Kansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $76,300 to $213,360. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Kansas take-home of $78,196, on $106,650 for work ranking 38 of 488 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 38 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kansas, so $86,918 — the adjusted value of that $106,650 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 38 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $130,530, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $76,300 and the top tenth $213,360 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Kansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $86,918 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; Kansas then takes its own share, leaving $78,196.
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 Kansas is $130,530. 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 ($76,300) and the ninetieth ($213,360) 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?
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 $86,918 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 $78,196 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.
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.