Photographers in Wyoming
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,782
after federal, FICA and Wyoming tax
Tax takes
$5,548
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,185
Wyoming costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Wyoming — 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
$39,330
Kept after tax
$33,782
Worth in national money
$37,185
State rank
29
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Wyoming sits in the middle of the pack for photographers. The median is $39,330, ranking 29 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Wyoming, this one sits low: 358 of 433 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Wyoming does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,330 you keep $33,782, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $37,185 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $44,960, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Wyoming occupies the middle band for photographers: a median of $39,330, ranking 29 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Photographers occupies position 358 of 433 in Wyoming's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and Wyoming income tax, retained pay for photographers on $39,330 is $33,782. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $37,185 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $44,960 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Photographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,290 |
| This salary | $39,330 |
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 Wyoming | $33,782 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,782 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,421 |
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 | $39,330 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,928 |
| 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 Wyoming earn under $39,330 and half over. The published range runs $28,430 at the tenth percentile to $70,290 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Wyoming's $33,782, worked from $39,330. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 358 of 433.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,185 uses one figure for the whole of Wyoming. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 433 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 358.
- Figures are distribution medians for photographers in Wyoming, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,430 to $70,290; 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.
- The Wyoming take-home of $33,782, on $39,330 for work ranking 358 of 433 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 358 of 433 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,185, worked from $39,330, 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 Wyoming address, on work sitting at 358 of 433 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $44,960, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $28,430, the highest tenth $70,290, 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 Wyoming sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $37,185 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $33,782 of this wage reaches your account, because Wyoming takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 Wyoming is $44,960. 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 ($28,430) and the ninetieth ($70,290) 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?
Wyoming'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 $37,185 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Wyoming levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $33,782 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.