Mechanical Engineers in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$70,303
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$22,887
24.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,897
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$93,190
Kept after tax
$70,303
Worth in national money
$76,897
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for mechanical engineers is on the low side in Idaho. The middle earner gets $93,190. That is 46 of 51 states, and about 10.49% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within Idaho this is well-paid work. Of 476 occupations with published figures in the state, mechanical engineers ranks 70 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $93,190 you keep $70,303 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $76,897 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $98,430, since top earners drag the number up.
- For mechanical engineers, Idaho sits in the lower band at $93,190, ranking 46 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 10.49%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation Idaho publishes a median for, mechanical engineers sits 70 of 476 — 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.
- Retained pay in Idaho is $70,303 after the full tax stack, from $93,190. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $76,897 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $98,430 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $93,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $141,020 |
| This salary | $93,190 |
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 Idaho | $70,303 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $74,389 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$346 |
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 | $87,382 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$477 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Idaho earn less than $93,190. The published range is $63,660 up to $141,020, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Idaho the take-home figure of $70,303, from $93,190, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 70 of 476 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $76,897 uses one figure for the whole of Idaho. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 476 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 70.
- Reported values are medians; for mechanical engineers in Idaho the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $63,660 to $141,020. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Idaho is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $70,303 from $93,190. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 70 of 476 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $76,897, worked from $93,190, 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 Idaho address, on work sitting at 70 of 476 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 $98,430 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 $63,660 at the bottom tenth to $141,020 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $76,897.
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 Idaho adds its own income tax on top — which is why $70,303 of this wage survives to your account.
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 Idaho is $98,430. 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 ($63,660) and the ninetieth ($141,020) 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?
Idaho'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 $76,897 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 $70,303 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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.