Librarians and Media Collections Specialists in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,769
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$11,201
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,432
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — 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
$56,970
Kept after tax
$45,769
Worth in national money
$52,432
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Mississippi pays this job a middle wage of $56,970, 44 of 51 states and about 16.55% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 181 among 486 occupations Mississippi publishes pay for.
- Here is where Mississippi does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $56,970 you keep $45,769, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $52,432 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $54,220, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Mississippi's $56,970 median for librarians and media collections specialists places it 44 of 51 states, about 16.55% 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.
- Position 181 of 486 in Mississippi places librarians and media collections specialists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Mississippi income tax, retained pay for librarians and media collections specialists on $56,970 is $45,769. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $52,432 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 $54,220 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,970 |
| This salary | $56,970 |
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 Mississippi | $45,769 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,955 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,082 |
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 | $54,248 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,727 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Mississippi earn less than $56,970. The published range is $29,340 up to $68,970, 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 Mississippi's $45,769, worked from $56,970. 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 181 of 486.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $52,432 uses one figure for the whole of Mississippi. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 486 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 181.
- Reported values are medians; for librarians and media collections specialists in Mississippi the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,340 to $68,970. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Mississippi take-home of $45,769, on $56,970 for work ranking 181 of 486 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 181 of 486 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $52,432, worked from $56,970, 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 Mississippi address, on work sitting at 181 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $54,220, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $29,340 at the bottom tenth to $68,970 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Mississippi sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $52,432 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Mississippi's own levy, $45,769 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 Mississippi is $54,220. 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 ($29,340 to $68,970) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Mississippi rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Mississippi'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 $52,432 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 $45,769 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi 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.