Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in Hawaii
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,902
after federal, FICA and Hawaii tax
Tax takes
$12,588
21.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,184
Hawaii costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Hawaii — 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
$59,490
Kept after tax
$46,902
Worth in national money
$43,184
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Hawaii's middle earner gets $59,490, putting the state 9 of 51 — about 1.74% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 437 occupations Hawaii reports figures for, this is number 247.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $59,490, tax leaves $46,902 — and because Hawaii is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $43,184 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $60,290, since top earners drag the number up.
- For postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators, Hawaii sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $59,490, ranking 9 of 51 and running about 1.74% 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.
- In Hawaii's occupational distribution, postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators sits at 247 of 437 — 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.
- After tax, $46,902 remains from the Hawaii median of $59,490 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $43,184 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $60,290 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,280 |
| This salary | $59,490 |
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 Hawaii | $46,902 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,980 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,249 |
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 | $55,659 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,976 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Hawaii earn less than $59,490. The published range is $42,600 up to $75,280, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Hawaii's $46,902, worked from $59,490. 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 247 of 437.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,184 uses one figure for the whole of Hawaii. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 437 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 247.
- Reported values are medians; for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in Hawaii the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,600 to $75,280. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Hawaii take-home of $46,902, on $59,490 for work ranking 247 of 437 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 247 of 437 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,184, worked from $59,490, 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 Hawaii address, on work sitting at 247 of 437 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,600 at the tenth percentile, $75,280 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Hawaii costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $43,184 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; Hawaii then takes its own share, leaving $46,902.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,600 to $75,280) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Hawaii rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Hawaii's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $43,184 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 $46,902 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Hawaii 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.