Ophthalmic Medical Technicians in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,926
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$6,294
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,283
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — 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
$36,220
Kept after tax
$29,926
Worth in national money
$34,283
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Mississippi pays ophthalmic medical technicians a middle wage of $36,220, 49 of 51 states and about 20.52% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Mississippi this is lower-paid work. Of 486 occupations the state publishes figures for, ophthalmic medical technicians ranks 394. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $36,220 you keep $29,926 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $34,283 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $36,980, since top earners drag the number up.
- Mississippi's $36,220 median for ophthalmic medical technicians places it 49 of 51 states, about 20.52% 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.
- Against every occupation Mississippi reports, ophthalmic medical technicians ranks 394 of 486, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Mississippi is $29,926 after the full tax stack, from $36,220. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,283 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $36,980 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,140 |
| This salary | $36,220 |
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 Mississippi | $29,926 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,283 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,090 |
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 | $34,531 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,528 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,220 as a midpoint for Mississippi, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,480 and the ninetieth is $45,140 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $29,926 take-home in Mississippi comes from $36,220. 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 394 of 486.
- Two cautions on $34,283, the adjusted value of that $36,220 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Mississippi. 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 394 of 486 locally.
- The Mississippi median of $36,220 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,480 to $45,140. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $29,926, from $36,220, assumes a single Mississippi 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 394 of 486 locally, and the state ranks 49 of 51 for it.
- This $34,283 adjusted figure, worked from $36,220, 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 394 of 486 in the state. The occupation ranks 394 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $29,480 at the tenth percentile, $45,140 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Mississippi is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $34,283 in national terms.
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 Mississippi adds its own income tax on top — which is why $29,926 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($29,480 to $45,140) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Mississippi rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Mississippi'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 $34,283 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 $29,926 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi 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.