Ophthalmic Medical Technicians in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,993
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$12,247
21.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,347
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
$58,240
Kept after tax
$45,993
Worth in national money
$42,347
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Hawaii pays ophthalmic medical technicians a middle wage of $58,240, ranking 2 of 51 states and sitting about 27.8% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Hawaii, this sits in the middle: 260 of 437 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $58,240 the take-home is $45,993. But Hawaii costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $42,347 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $55,240, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Hawaii's median for ophthalmic medical technicians is $58,240, about 27.8% above the national figure and 2 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.
- Ophthalmic medical technicians ranks 260 of 437 occupations in Hawaii by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Hawaii income tax is $45,993 for ophthalmic medical technicians, from $58,240. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,347. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $55,240 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,850 |
| This salary | $58,240 |
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 | $45,993 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,976 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,052 |
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 | $54,527 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,739 |
| 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 $58,240. The published range is $40,370 up to $64,850, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Hawaii the take-home figure of $45,993, from $58,240, 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 260 of 437 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $42,347, the adjusted value of that $58,240 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Hawaii. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 260 of 437 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for ophthalmic medical technicians in Hawaii the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,370 to $64,850. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Hawaii is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $45,993 from $58,240. 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 260 of 437 locally.
- This $42,347 adjusted figure, worked from $58,240, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 260 of 437 in the state. The occupation ranks 260 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 $55,240, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $40,370 and the top tenth $64,850, so most people doing this work in Hawaii sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Hawaii costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $42,347 rather than its face figure.
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, $45,993 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 $55,240. 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 ($40,370 to $64,850) 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 $42,347 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 $45,993 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.