Optometrists in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$106,565
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$48,055
31.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$98,118
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
$154,620
Kept after tax
$106,565
Worth in national money
$98,118
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for optometrists is strong here. Hawaii's middle earner gets $154,620, putting the state 9 of 51 — about 13.22% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Hawaii. It ranks 9 out of 437 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $154,620 the take-home is $106,565. But Hawaii costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $98,118 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $149,920, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For optometrists, Hawaii sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $154,620, ranking 9 of 51 and running about 13.22% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within Hawaii, optometrists ranks 9 of 437 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Hawaii income tax is $106,565 for optometrists, from $154,620. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $98,118. ⚠️ 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 $149,920 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $107,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $154,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $205,390 |
| This salary | $154,620 |
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 | $106,565 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $116,949 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$22,230 |
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 | $139,428 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$31,606 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of optometrists in Hawaii earn under $154,620 and half over. The published range runs $107,090 at the tenth percentile to $205,390 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $106,565 take-home in Hawaii comes from $154,620. 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 9 of 437.
- One number stands for prices across all of Hawaii, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $98,118, the adjusted value of that $154,620 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 9 of 437 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for optometrists in Hawaii, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $107,090 to $205,390; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $106,565, from $154,620, assumes a single Hawaii 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 9 of 437 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Hawaii, so $98,118 — the adjusted value of that $154,620 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 9 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 $149,920, 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 $107,090 and the top tenth $205,390, so most people doing this work in Hawaii sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $98,118 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Hawaii adds its own income tax on top — which is why $106,565 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $149,920. 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 ($107,090 to $205,390) 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 $98,118 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 $106,565 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.