Photographers in Idaho
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,040
after federal, FICA and Idaho tax
Tax takes
$5,280
15.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,670
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
$33,320
Kept after tax
$28,040
Worth in national money
$30,670
State rank
48
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for photographers is on the low side in Idaho. The middle earner gets $33,320. That is 48 of 49 states, and about 25.39% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 476 occupations Idaho publishes, photographers lands at 454. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Idaho is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $33,320 the take-home is $28,040; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $30,670 would nationally. The average comes to $37,950, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For photographers, Idaho sits in the lower band at $33,320, ranking 48 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 25.39%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Idaho, this work ranks 454 of 476 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for photographers in Idaho, on $33,320, is $28,040 — equivalent to $30,670 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 $37,950 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Photographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $33,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $53,790 |
| This salary | $33,320 |
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 | $28,040 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,953 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$876 |
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 | $32,184 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,059 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 91 |
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 photographers in Idaho earn under $33,320 and half over. The published range runs $22,470 at the tenth percentile to $53,790 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Idaho the take-home figure of $28,040, from $33,320, 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 454 of 476 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $30,670, the adjusted value of that $33,320 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 454 of 476 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for photographers in Idaho, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $22,470 to $53,790; 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.
- Take-home for Idaho is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $28,040 from $33,320. 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 454 of 476 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $30,670 — the adjusted value of that $33,320 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 454 of 476 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 $37,950, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $22,470 at the bottom tenth to $53,790 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Idaho sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $30,670 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 Idaho's own levy, $28,040 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $37,950. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($22,470) and the ninetieth ($53,790) 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?
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 $30,670 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 $28,040 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.