Protective Service Workers, All Other in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,731
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$7,159
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,096
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$44,890
Kept after tax
$37,731
Worth in national money
$41,096
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Ohio sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $44,890, ranking 29 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Ohio, this one sits low: 373 of 494 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $44,890 you keep $37,731 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $41,096 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $48,920, since top earners drag the number up.
- Ohio occupies the middle band for protective service workers, all other: a median of $44,890, ranking 29 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.
- Protective service workers, all other occupies position 373 of 494 in Ohio'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.
- Retained pay in Ohio is $37,731 after the full tax stack, from $44,890. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,096 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,920 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Protective Service Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,940 |
| This salary | $44,890 |
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 Ohio | $37,731 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,249 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,735 |
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 | $44,245 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,098 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
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 protective service workers, all other in Ohio earn under $44,890 and half over. The published range runs $33,810 at the tenth percentile to $65,940 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $37,731 take-home in Ohio comes from $44,890. 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 373 of 494.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,096 uses one figure for the whole of Ohio. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 494 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 373.
- Figures are distribution medians for protective service workers, all other in Ohio, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,810 to $65,940; 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.
- Retained pay of $37,731, from $44,890, assumes a single Ohio 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 373 of 494 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,096, worked from $44,890, 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 Ohio address, on work sitting at 373 of 494 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 $48,920, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $33,810 and the top tenth $65,940, so most people doing this work in Ohio sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $41,096.
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 Ohio's own levy, $37,731 remains.
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 Ohio is $48,920. 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 ($33,810 to $65,940) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Ohio rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio'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 $41,096 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 $37,731 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.