Opticians, Dispensing in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,277
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$6,403
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,685
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
$36,680
Kept after tax
$30,277
Worth in national money
$34,685
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Mississippi pays opticians, dispensing a middle wage of $36,680, 50 of 51 states and about 22.39% 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, opticians, dispensing ranks 381. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Mississippi does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $36,680 you keep $30,277, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,685 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $37,590, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Mississippi's $36,680 median for opticians, dispensing places it 50 of 51 states, about 22.39% 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, opticians, dispensing ranks 381 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.
- After federal, FICA and Mississippi income tax, retained pay for opticians, dispensing on $36,680 is $30,277. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,685 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $37,590 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,210 |
| This salary | $36,680 |
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 | $30,277 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,652 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,112 |
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 | $34,968 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,555 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Mississippi earn less than $36,680. The published range is $28,180 up to $47,210, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $30,277 take-home in Mississippi comes from $36,680. 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 381 of 486.
- Two cautions on $34,685, the adjusted value of that $36,680 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 381 of 486 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for opticians, dispensing in Mississippi the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $28,180 to $47,210. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $30,277, from $36,680, 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 381 of 486 locally, and the state ranks 50 of 51 for it.
- This $34,685 adjusted figure, worked from $36,680, 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 381 of 486 in the state. The occupation ranks 381 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $28,180 at the bottom tenth to $47,210 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Mississippi sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $34,685 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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; Mississippi then takes its own share, leaving $30,277.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($28,180 to $47,210) 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 $34,685 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 $30,277 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.