Protective Service Workers, All Other in Idaho

A protective helmet, radio and safety vest at an emergency response station.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$37,992

after federal, FICA and Idaho tax

Tax takes

$8,588

18.4% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$41,555

Idaho costs less than average

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

$46,580

Kept after tax

$37,992

Worth in national money

$41,555

State rank

26

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Idaho sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $46,580, ranking 26 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
  • Middle of the local pack. Of 476 occupations Idaho reports figures for, this is number 324.
  • Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,580 you keep $37,992 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $41,555 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $51,910, since top earners drag the number up.
  • Idaho occupies the middle band for protective service workers, all other: a median of $46,580, ranking 26 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
  • In Idaho's occupational distribution, protective service workers, all other sits at 324 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.
  • Retained pay in Idaho is $37,992 after the full tax stack, from $46,580. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,555 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $51,910 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Protective Service Workers, All Other

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$38,800
Half earn under$46,580
Top tenth earn over$66,940
This salary$46,580

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

Compare with
+$1,615take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Idaho$37,992
Take-home in Texas$39,607
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$796

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

Moving to
$0$47,543
$47,543in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$44,570
Raise you would need+$963
Prices in Texas97 vs 91

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • Half the people doing this work in Idaho earn less than $46,580. The published range is $38,800 up to $66,940, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • That $37,992 take-home in Idaho comes from $46,580. 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 324 of 476.
  • One number stands for prices across all of Idaho, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $41,555, the adjusted value of that $46,580 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 324 of 476 in the state.
  • Reported values are medians; for protective service workers, all other in Idaho the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,800 to $66,940. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • Retained pay of $37,992, from $46,580, 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 324 of 476 locally, and the state ranks 26 of 51 for it.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Idaho, so $41,555 — the adjusted value of that $46,580 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 324 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 $51,910 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $38,800 and the top tenth $66,940, so most people doing this work in Idaho sit within a fairly tight band.

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 $41,555 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 $37,992.

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.

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 $51,910. 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 ($38,800 to $66,940) 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 $41,555 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 $37,992 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.