Mechanical Engineers in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,705
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$27,385
26.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,941
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — 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
$105,090
Kept after tax
$77,705
Worth in national money
$74,941
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Connecticut pays mechanical engineers a middle wage of $105,090, ranking 16 of 51 states and sitting about 0.94% above the national middle.
- Within Connecticut this is well-paid work. Of 482 occupations with published figures in the state, mechanical engineers ranks 69 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $105,090, tax leaves $77,705 — and because Connecticut is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $74,941 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $111,530, since top earners drag the number up.
- Connecticut's median for mechanical engineers is $105,090, about 0.94% above the national figure and 16 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Ranked against every occupation Connecticut publishes a median for, mechanical engineers sits 69 of 482 — 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 tax, $77,705 remains from the Connecticut median of $105,090 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $74,941 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $111,530 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $77,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $105,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $157,980 |
| This salary | $105,090 |
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 Connecticut | $77,705 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,761 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$10,226 |
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 | $97,904 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$14,125 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Connecticut earn less than $105,090. The published range is $77,340 up to $157,980, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $77,705 take-home in Connecticut comes from $105,090. 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 69 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $74,941 uses one figure for the whole of Connecticut. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 482 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 69.
- Reported values are medians; for mechanical engineers in Connecticut the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $77,340 to $157,980. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $77,705, from $105,090, assumes a single Connecticut 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 69 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $74,941, worked from $105,090, 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 Connecticut address, on work sitting at 69 of 482 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 $111,530 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 $77,340 at the bottom tenth to $157,980 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Connecticut run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $74,941 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Connecticut adds its own income tax on top — which is why $77,705 of this wage survives to your account.
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 Connecticut is $111,530. 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 ($77,340) and the ninetieth ($157,980) 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?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $74,941 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 $77,705 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut 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.