Mechanical Engineers in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,233
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$26,507
26.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,507
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
$98,740
Kept after tax
$72,233
Worth in national money
$66,507
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Hawaii pays mechanical engineers a middle wage of $98,740, 39 of 51 states and about 5.16% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Hawaii this is well-paid work. Of 437 occupations with published figures in the state, mechanical engineers ranks 84 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Hawaii is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $98,740 the take-home is $72,233; in national-average money that behaves like $66,507. The average comes to $103,410, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Hawaii's $98,740 median for mechanical engineers places it 39 of 51 states, about 5.16% 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 Hawaii publishes a median for, mechanical engineers sits 84 of 437 — 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.
- Take-home for mechanical engineers in Hawaii, on $98,740, is $72,233; deflated by the state's price level, $66,507. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $103,410 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $141,500 |
| This salary | $98,740 |
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 | $72,233 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,294 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$14,063 |
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 | $90,124 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$19,425 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $98,740 as a midpoint for Hawaii, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $66,110 and the ninetieth is $141,500 — 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 $72,233, worked from $98,740. 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 84 of 437.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $66,507 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 84.
- The Hawaii median of $98,740 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $66,110 to $141,500. 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 $72,233, on $98,740 for work ranking 84 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 84 of 437 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,507, worked from $98,740, 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 84 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $103,410, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $66,110 and the top tenth $141,500 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $66,507 — 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, $72,233 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $103,410. 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 ($66,110) and the ninetieth ($141,500) 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 $66,507 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 $72,233 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.
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.