Museum Technicians and Conservators in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,797
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$7,373
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,197
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
$40,170
Kept after tax
$32,797
Worth in national money
$30,197
State rank
37
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Hawaii. The middle earner gets $40,170. That is 37 of 45 states, and about 21.91% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 437 occupations Hawaii publishes, this job lands at 400. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $40,170, tax leaves $32,797 — and because Hawaii is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $30,197 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $44,430, since top earners drag the number up.
- For museum technicians and conservators, Hawaii sits in the lower band at $40,170, ranking 37 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 21.91%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Hawaii, this work ranks 400 of 437 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After tax, $32,797 remains from the Hawaii median of $40,170 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $30,197 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $44,430 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Museum Technicians and Conservators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,920 |
| This salary | $40,170 |
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 | $32,797 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,457 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,261 |
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 | $38,105 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,363 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Hawaii earn less than $40,170. The published range is $38,690 up to $58,920, 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 Hawaii's $32,797, worked from $40,170. 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 400 of 437.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,197 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 400.
- Reported values are medians; for museum technicians and conservators in Hawaii the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,690 to $58,920. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Hawaii take-home of $32,797, on $40,170 for work ranking 400 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 400 of 437 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,197, worked from $40,170, 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 400 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 $44,430, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,690 at the bottom tenth to $58,920 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $30,197 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Hawaii then takes its own share, leaving $32,797.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 Hawaii is $44,430. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,690 to $58,920) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
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 $30,197 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 $32,797 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.
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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.