Library Assistants, Clerical in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,752
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$6,239
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,643
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — 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
$35,990
Kept after tax
$29,752
Worth in national money
$27,643
State rank
27
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. New York is 27 of 50 states for library assistants, clerical, with a middle wage of $35,990. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within New York this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, library assistants, clerical ranks 480. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- New York is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $35,990 the take-home is $29,752; in national-average money that behaves like $27,643. The average comes to $40,780, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- New York ranks 27 of 50 for library assistants, clerical at $35,990. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation New York reports, library assistants, clerical ranks 480 of 493, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Take-home for library assistants, clerical in New York, on $35,990, is $29,752; deflated by the state's price level, $27,643. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $40,780 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Library Assistants, Clerical
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,160 |
| This salary | $35,990 |
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 New York | $29,752 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,098 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,359 |
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 | $34,314 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,271 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of library assistants, clerical in New York earn under $35,990 and half over. The published range runs $32,610 at the tenth percentile to $57,160 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New York's $29,752, worked from $35,990. 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 480 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of New York, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $27,643, the adjusted value of that $35,990 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 480 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for library assistants, clerical in New York, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,610 to $57,160; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The New York take-home of $29,752, on $35,990 for work ranking 480 of 493 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 480 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for New York, so $27,643 — the adjusted value of that $35,990 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 480 of 493 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 $40,780 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $32,610 at the tenth percentile, $57,160 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New York run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $27,643 — 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 New York's own levy, $29,752 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 New York is $40,780. 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 ($32,610 to $57,160) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New York rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $27,643 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 $29,752 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.