Opticians, Dispensing in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,458
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$6,482
17.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,632
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$37,940
Kept after tax
$31,458
Worth in national money
$35,632
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Oklahoma pays opticians, dispensing a middle wage of $37,940, 48 of 51 states and about 19.72% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Oklahoma this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, opticians, dispensing ranks 396. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $37,940 you keep $31,458 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,632 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $40,500, since top earners drag the number up.
- Oklahoma's $37,940 median for opticians, dispensing places it 48 of 51 states, about 19.72% 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 Oklahoma reports, opticians, dispensing ranks 396 of 492, 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 Oklahoma is $31,458 after the full tax stack, from $37,940. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,632 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $40,500 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $54,310 |
| This salary | $37,940 |
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 Oklahoma | $31,458 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,665 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,018 |
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 | $36,438 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,440 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,940 as a midpoint for Oklahoma, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,530 and the ninetieth is $54,310 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Oklahoma's $31,458, worked from $37,940. 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 396 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,632 uses one figure for the whole of Oklahoma. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 396.
- The Oklahoma median of $37,940 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,530 to $54,310. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Oklahoma take-home of $31,458, on $37,940 for work ranking 396 of 492 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 396 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,632, worked from $37,940, 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 Oklahoma address, on work sitting at 396 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $40,500, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $29,530 at the bottom tenth to $54,310 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Oklahoma is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $35,632 in national terms.
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; Oklahoma then takes its own share, leaving $31,458.
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 Oklahoma is $40,500. 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 ($29,530 to $54,310) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oklahoma rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma'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 $35,632 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 $31,458 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.