Optometrists in Kansas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$98,541
after federal, FICA and Kansas tax
Tax takes
$40,039
28.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$109,533
Kansas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kansas — 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
$138,580
Kept after tax
$98,541
Worth in national money
$109,533
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Kansas is 20 of 51 states for optometrists, with a middle wage of $138,580. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Kansas. It ranks 13 out of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $138,580 you keep $98,541 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $109,533 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $140,510, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kansas ranks 20 of 51 for optometrists at $138,580. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Kansas, optometrists ranks 13 of 488 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 in Kansas is $98,541 after the full tax stack, from $138,580. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $109,533 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $140,510 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $85,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $138,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $192,720 |
| This salary | $138,580 |
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 Kansas | $98,541 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $105,985 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$466 |
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 | $127,689 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$663 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Kansas earn less than $138,580. The published range is $85,010 up to $192,720, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $98,541 take-home in Kansas comes from $138,580. 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 13 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kansas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $109,533, the adjusted value of that $138,580 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 13 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for optometrists in Kansas the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $85,010 to $192,720. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $98,541, from $138,580, assumes a single Kansas 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 13 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kansas, so $109,533 — the adjusted value of that $138,580 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 13 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $85,010, the highest tenth $192,720, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Kansas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $109,533 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Kansas's own levy, $98,541 remains.
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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($85,010) and the ninetieth ($192,720) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kansas'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 $109,533 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 $98,541 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kansas 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.