Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,902
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$9,888
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,832
Idaho costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Idaho — 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
$51,790
Kept after tax
$41,902
Worth in national money
$45,832
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Idaho pays payroll and timekeeping clerks a middle wage of $51,790, 42 of 51 states and about 11.11% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 476 occupations Idaho reports figures for, this is number 262.
- Idaho is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $51,790 the take-home is $41,902; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $45,832 would nationally. The average comes to $54,810, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Idaho's $51,790 median for payroll and timekeeping clerks places it 42 of 51 states, about 11.11% 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.
- In Idaho's occupational distribution, payroll and timekeeping clerks sits at 262 of 476 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for payroll and timekeeping clerks in Idaho, on $51,790, is $41,902 — equivalent to $45,832 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $54,810 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,390 |
| This salary | $51,790 |
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 Idaho | $41,902 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,793 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$765 |
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 | $49,436 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$926 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $51,790 as a midpoint for Idaho, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,440 and the ninetieth is $70,390 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $41,902 take-home in Idaho comes from $51,790. 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 262 of 476.
- One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $45,832, the adjusted value of that $51,790 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 262 of 476 in the state.
- The Idaho median of $51,790 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,440 to $70,390. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $41,902, from $51,790, assumes a single Idaho 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 262 of 476 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $45,832 — the adjusted value of that $51,790 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 262 of 476 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $54,810 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $41,440 at the tenth percentile, $70,390 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Idaho is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $45,832 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; Idaho then takes its own share, leaving $41,902.
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 Idaho is $54,810. 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 ($41,440 to $70,390) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Idaho rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Idaho'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 $45,832 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 $41,902 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Idaho 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.