Optometrists in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$112,370
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$48,770
30.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$104,408
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — 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
$161,140
Kept after tax
$112,370
Worth in national money
$104,408
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for optometrists is strong here. New York's middle earner gets $161,140, putting the state 5 of 51 — about 17.99% ahead of the national figure.
- Within New York this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, optometrists ranks 25 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $161,140, tax leaves $112,370 — and because New York is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $104,408 would nationally. Here the average runs under the middle, at $153,130.
- For optometrists, New York sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $161,140, ranking 5 of 51 and running about 17.99% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation New York publishes a median for, optometrists sits 25 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After tax, $112,370 remains from the New York median of $161,140 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $104,408 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $153,130 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $95,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $161,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $203,040 |
| This salary | $161,140 |
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 New York | $112,370 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $121,405 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$20,527 |
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 | $147,921 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$29,184 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $161,140 as a midpoint for New York, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $95,460 and the ninetieth is $203,040 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In New York the take-home figure of $112,370, from $161,140, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 25 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $104,408 uses one figure for the whole of New York. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 25.
- The New York median of $161,140 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $95,460 to $203,040. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for New York is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $112,370 from $161,140. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 25 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $104,408, worked from $161,140, 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 New York address, on work sitting at 25 of 493 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 $153,130, 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?
The range here is narrow. From $95,460 at the bottom tenth to $203,040 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. New York costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $104,408 rather than its face figure.
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; New York then takes its own share, leaving $112,370.
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 New York is $153,130. 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 ($95,460 to $203,040) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to New York rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $104,408 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 $112,370 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York 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.